--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They were savages, yet they were ghosts…" description: "\"“They were savages, yet they were ghosts. The two most terrible and dreaded foes of civilised experience seemed combined at once in them.”\" — Grant Allen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/099/grant-allen-37074_ghosts_they-were-savages-yet-they-were-ghosts-t_2454890.jpg" --- # They were savages, yet they were ghosts. The two most… ![“They were savages, yet they were ghosts. The two most terrible and dreaded foes of civilised experience seemed combined at once in them.” quote by Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/099/grant-allen-37074_ghosts_they-were-savages-yet-they-were-ghosts-t_2454890.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/099/grant-allen-37074_ghosts_they-were-savages-yet-they-were-ghosts-t_2454890.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/099/grant-allen-37074_ghosts_they-were-savages-yet-they-were-ghosts-t_2454890.jpg) > ““They were savages, yet they were ghosts. The two most terrible and dreaded foes of civilised experience seemed combined at once in them.”” [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Savage and ghostly foes embody both brutality and lingering memory. **In simple terms:** They are both violent and haunting. Key Takeaway Recognize the dual nature of threats. Themes duality memory violence the supernatural Mood reflective dark Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - literary analysis - cultural studies - creative writing Key Concepts psychological horror historical trauma Questions to Reflect On - What does the savage-ghost duality reveal about civilization? - How does horror reflect societal fears? A Different Perspective Focusing on horror may obscure underlying social critique. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ghosts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghosts/) [Savages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/savages/) ## Related quotes > [By the Declaration of Independence, dreaded by the foes an for a time doubtfully viewed by many of the friends of America, everything stood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mercy-otis-warren/by-the-declaration-of-independence-dreaded-by-the-foes-an-for-a-time/) [Mercy Otis Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mercy-otis-warren/) > [“The pagan gods are not dead, but can return to topple science with superstition and modern man with bestial pleasures that pre-date civilisation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-luckhurst/the-pagan-gods-are-not-dead-but-can-return-to-topple-science-with/) Richard Luckhurst > [There are savages without God in any proper sense of the word, but none without ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-savages-without-god-in-any-proper-sense-of-the-word-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think a domestic situation can change you and your attitudes. I suppose if you did get a bit content, then you might not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mccartney/i-think-a-domestic-situation-can-change-you-and-your-attitudes-i/) [Paul McCartney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mccartney/) > [The effect of the discovery of printing was evident in the savage religious wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Application of power to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-innis/the-effect-of-the-discovery-of-printing-was-evident-in-the-savage/) [Harold Innis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-innis/) > [Then he raised her enough to whisper in her ear, and while his voice was tender, his words were savage. "You're my woman, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/then-he-raised-her-enough-to-whisper-in-her-ear-and-while-his-voice/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [In certain savage tribes in New Guinea, they put the old people up in the trees and shake them once a year in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dos-passos/in-certain-savage-tribes-in-new-guinea-they-put-the-old-people-up-in/) [John Dos Passos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dos-passos/) > [When passions and appetites are stronger than the intellect, men are savages; when the intellect governs the passions, when the passions are servants, men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/when-passions-and-appetites-are-stronger-than-the-intellect-men-are/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [I did not join the resistance movement to kill people, to kill the nation. Look at me now. Am I a savage person? My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pol-pot/i-did-not-join-the-resistance-movement-to-kill-people-to-kill-the/) [Pol Pot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pol-pot/) > [When forced to survive in an apocalyptic world, there are some characters that embrace their higher selves with some emerging as natural born leaders,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-holden/when-forced-to-survive-in-an-apocalyptic-world-there-are-some/) [Laurie Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-holden/) > [Hitler recruited around him homosexuals to make up his Stormtroopers, they were his enforcers, they were his thugs. And Hitler discovered that he could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-fischer/hitler-recruited-around-him-homosexuals-to-make-up-his-stormtroopers/) [Bryan Fischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-fischer/) > [Mine was, as it were, the connecting link between wild and cultivated fields; as some states are civilized, and others half-civilized, and others savage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/mine-was-as-it-were-the-connecting-link-between-wild-and-cultivated/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [When the savages of Louisiana wish to have fruit, they cut the tree at the bottom and gather the fruit. That is exactly a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-de-montesquieu/when-the-savages-of-louisiana-wish-to-have-fruit-they-cut-the-tree-at/) [Baron de Montesquieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-de-montesquieu/) > [The combative instinct is a savage prompting by which one man's good is found in another's evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-combative-instinct-is-a-savage-prompting-by-which-one-man-s-good/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) ## More by Grant Allen > [“if people begin by thinking rationally, the danger is that they may end by acting rationally also.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/if-people-begin-by-thinking-rationally-the-danger-is-that-they-may/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“It is almost impossible to get a novel printed in an English journal unless it is warranted to contain nothing at all to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/it-is-almost-impossible-to-get-a-novel-printed-in-an-english-journal/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“If there is an injustice or a barbarity possible, I might have been sure the law of England would make haste to perpetrate it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/if-there-is-an-injustice-or-a-barbarity-possible-i-might-have-been/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [What we each fall in love with individually is, I believe, our moral, mental, and physical complement. Not our like, not our counterpart; quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/what-we-each-fall-in-love-with-individually-is-i-believe-our-moral/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“Professional considerations made the Dean refrain from endorsing this open expression of murderous sentiment in its fullest form; a clergyman ought always to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/professional-considerations-made-the-dean-refrain-from-endorsing-this/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [What a misfortune it is that we should thus be compelled to let our boys schooling interfere with their education!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/what-a-misfortune-it-is-that-we-should-thus-be-compelled-to-let-our/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“Philip owned a looking-glass, and was therefore accustomed to a very high standard of manly beauty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/philip-owned-a-looking-glass-and-was-therefore-accustomed-to-a-very/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“Now, nothing annoys an angry savage or an uneducated person so much as the perfect coolness of a civilized and cultivated man when he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/now-nothing-annoys-an-angry-savage-or-an-uneducated-person-so-much-as/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“In fact, in this modern England of ours, this fatherland of snobdom, one passes one's life in a see-saw of doubt, between the Scylla…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/in-fact-in-this-modern-england-of-ours-this-fatherland-of-snobdom-one/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“I beg your pardon," Philip interposed stiffly, now put upon his mettle. "We have no taboos at all in England. ... England, you must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/i-beg-your-pardon-philip-interposed-stiffly-now-put-upon-his-mettle/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) > [“A bullet would perhaps be an unnecessarily severe form of punishment to mete out; but I confess I could excuse the man who was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grant-allen/a-bullet-would-perhaps-be-an-unnecessarily-severe-form-of-punishment/) [Grant Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) [Explore all 12 Grant Allen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grant-allen/) ## More Ghosts quotes > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [“This was going to be worse than the time I table danced in the diner in high school!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-bryson/this-was-going-to-be-worse-than-the-time-i-table-danced-in-the-diner/) [Kathy Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-bryson/) > [Nice is a city of ghosts and specters, but I hope not to become one of them right away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-modiano/nice-is-a-city-of-ghosts-and-specters-but-i-hope-not-to-become-one-of/) [Patrick Modiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-modiano/) > [“One person's strange is another person's normal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dani-harper/one-person-s-strange-is-another-person-s-normal/) [Dani Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dani-harper/) > [“All right, you deadly little ghostlings,” I muttered. “Mama says go back to bed! - Cat”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/all-right-you-deadly-little-ghostlings-i-muttered-mama-says-go-back/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [“Most people would probably call me a ghost. I am, after all, dead. But I don't think of myself that way. It wasn't so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-pike/most-people-would-probably-call-me-a-ghost-i-am-after-all-dead-but-i/) [Christopher Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-pike/) > [“A memory that costs you something," he said aloud, almost to himself. "One that hurts to remember. That makes you regret what you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daria-lavelle/a-memory-that-costs-you-something-he-said-aloud-almost-to-himself-one/) Daria Lavelle > [“I am made of a thousand ghosts. Only you can shoot me down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bella-james/i-am-made-of-a-thousand-ghosts-only-you-can-shoot-me-down/) Bella James > [Many memories were long forgotten, and many became ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blackmore-s-night/many-memories-were-long-forgotten-and-many-became-ghosts/) Blackmore's Night > [Do I believe in ghosts?...I am prepared to consider evidence and accept it if it satisfies me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-r-james/do-i-believe-in-ghosts-i-am-prepared-to-consider-evidence-and-accept/) [M. R. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-r-james/) > [“Before her escort could react, she sprinted out from their little pool of lantern-light into the darkness, her feet pounding the soft, treacherous clods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hardinge/before-her-escort-could-react-she-sprinted-out-from-their-little-pool/) [Frances Hardinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hardinge/) > [“I assure you; while I look like a ghost, I'm no spirit or demon. I'm nothing but a girl struggling to make her way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leanna-renee-hieber/i-assure-you-while-i-look-like-a-ghost-i-m-no-spirit-or-demon-i-m/) [Leanna Renee Hieber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leanna-renee-hieber/) > [They call them the haunted shores, these stretches of Devonshire and Cornwall and Ireland which rear up against the westward ocean. Mists gather here,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dodie-smith/they-call-them-the-haunted-shores-these-stretches-of-devonshire-and/) [Dodie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dodie-smith/) > [I think I do believe in the afterlife; I have heard stories from people who I can completely trust that have seen ghosts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saoirse-ronan/i-think-i-do-believe-in-the-afterlife-i-have-heard-stories-from/) [Saoirse Ronan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saoirse-ronan/) > [“The banana flavour of his accidental conception, and the banana theme of his accidental death, now all seemed to conspire against him and rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-conrad/the-banana-flavour-of-his-accidental-conception-and-the-banana-theme/) [Tom Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-conrad/) [Browse all 1,103 Ghosts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ghosts/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They were savages, yet they were ghosts. 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