--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Universities are meant to pass the torch…" description: "\"Universities are meant to pass the torch of civilization.\" — Hal Abelson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/hal-abelson-36322_civilization_universities-are-meant-to-pass-the-torch_1473816.png" --- # Universities are meant to pass the torch of civilization. ![“Universities are meant to pass the torch of civilization.” quote by Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/hal-abelson-36322_civilization_universities-are-meant-to-pass-the-torch_1473816.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/hal-abelson-36322_civilization_universities-are-meant-to-pass-the-torch_1473816.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/hal-abelson-36322_civilization_universities-are-meant-to-pass-the-torch_1473816.png) > “Universities are meant to pass the torch of civilization.” [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Universities should transmit cultural knowledge and values to future generations. **In simple terms:** Colleges pass cultural torch. Key Takeaway Support educational continuity. Themes education culture legacy Mood hopeful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - curriculum design - mentorship - public policy Key Concepts knowledge transfer civilization building Questions to Reflect On - How can universities stay innovative? - What cultural aspects need preservation? A Different Perspective Educational systems can become stagnant. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Universities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universities/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) ## Related quotes > [...universities were not meant entirely, or even chiefly, as stepping-stones to an examination, but that there is something else which universities can teach and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/universities-were-not-meant-entirely-or-even-chiefly-as-stepping/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [University, as institutions, pre-date the information economy by many centuries and are not for-profit cultural entities, whose reason of existence (purportedly) is to discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-sterling/university-as-institutions-pre-date-the-information-economy-by-many/) [Bruce Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-sterling/) > [I'm getting more towards that point where I'm ready to kind of pass the torch on and see the next generation succeed behind me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-ruggiero/i-m-getting-more-towards-that-point-where-i-m-ready-to-kind-of-pass/) [Angela Ruggiero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-ruggiero/) > [I used to hate old-timers who didn't praise the younger wrestlers, but you've got to pass the torch sometime. If you're old, that torch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-savage/i-used-to-hate-old-timers-who-didn-t-praise-the-younger-wrestlers-but/) [Randy Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-savage/) > [“I know you're just trying to be kind. But the world isn't always kind. So sometimes you have to know what you're up against,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mackenzie-herbert/i-know-you-re-just-trying-to-be-kind-but-the-world-isn-t-always-kind/) [Mackenzie Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mackenzie-herbert/) > [You've got to have new stars and you need people to pass the torch to build those stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-dibiase-sr/you-ve-got-to-have-new-stars-and-you-need-people-to-pass-the-torch-to/) [Ted DiBiase Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-dibiase-sr/) > [Even within traditional universities there has always been debate about whether it wouldn't be better to focus on only one course at a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-greenspun/even-within-traditional-universities-there-has-always-been-debate/) [Philip Greenspun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-greenspun/) > [Universities are the custodians not only of the many cultures of man, but of the rational process itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/universities-are-the-custodians-not-only-of-the-many-cultures-of-man/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sadness is one of the best universities in life! Though bad things take good things from us, they do give us useful things as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/sadness-is-one-of-the-best-universities-in-life-though-bad-things/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Credentialing, not education, has become the primary business of North American universities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/credentialing-not-education-has-become-the-primary-business-of-north/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Universities ought to be aware of the degree they would want to accept funding from governments like China to work on, say, face recognition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/universities-ought-to-be-aware-of-the-degree-they-would-want-to/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [Most universities are no longer temples of knowledge, but of power, and true moderns worship there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/most-universities-are-no-longer-temples-of-knowledge-but-of-power-and/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [As countries embrace mass higher education, the cost of maintaining universities increases dramatically relative to an elite system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-bok/as-countries-embrace-mass-higher-education-the-cost-of-maintaining/) [Derek Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-bok/) > [I was horrified to visit our universities and find that at the Punjab Agriculture University or at the Animal and Husbandry University, we don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amarinder-singh/i-was-horrified-to-visit-our-universities-and-find-that-at-the-punjab/) [Amarinder Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amarinder-singh/) > [Universities are the cathedrals of the modern age. They shouldn't have to justify their existence by utilitarian criteria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lodge/universities-are-the-cathedrals-of-the-modern-age-they-shouldn-t-have/) [David Lodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lodge/) ## More by Hal Abelson > [First, we want to establish the idea that a computer language is not just a way of getting a computer to perform operations but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/first-we-want-to-establish-the-idea-that-a-computer-language-is-not/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [What's important is not just to develop the technology; it's to develop the processes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/what-s-important-is-not-just-to-develop-the-technology-it-s-to/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [Now, the reason that we think computer science is about computers is pretty much the same reason that the Egyptians thought geometry was about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/now-the-reason-that-we-think-computer-science-is-about-computers-is/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [A powerful programming language is more than just a means for instructing a computer to perform tasks. The language also serves as a framework…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/a-powerful-programming-language-is-more-than-just-a-means-for/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [Applicants must also have extensive knowledge of Unix, although they should have sufficiently good programming taste to not consider this an achievement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/applicants-must-also-have-extensive-knowledge-of-unix-although-they/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [The computer revolution is a revolution in the way we think and in the way we express what we think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/the-computer-revolution-is-a-revolution-in-the-way-we-think-and-in/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [ \[Computer science\] is not really about computers and it's not about computers in the same sense that physics is not really about particle accelerators,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/computer-science-is-not-really-about-computers-and-it-s-not-about/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [The computer revolution is a revolution in the way we think and in the way we express what we think. The essence of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/the-computer-revolution-is-a-revolution-in-the-way-we-think-and-in-2/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [There's a good part of Computer Science that's like magic. Unfortunately there's a bad part of Computer Science that's like religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/there-s-a-good-part-of-computer-science-that-s-like-magic/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my shoulders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/if-i-have-not-seen-as-far-as-others-it-is-because-giants-were/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [Congress is good at doing two things: one is nothing, and the other is overreacting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/congress-is-good-at-doing-two-things-one-is-nothing-and-the-other-is/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) > [We have also obtained a glimpse of another crucial idea about languages and program design. This is the approach of statified design, the notion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/we-have-also-obtained-a-glimpse-of-another-crucial-idea-about/) [Hal Abelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) [Explore all 13 Hal Abelson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Universities are meant to pass the torch of civilization.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hal Abelson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/universities-are-meant-to-pass-the-torch-of-civilization/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civilization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/universities-are-meant-to-pass-the-torch-of-civilization/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/hal-abelson-36322_civilization_universities-are-meant-to-pass-the-torch_1473816.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/hal-abelson-36322_civilization_universities-are-meant-to-pass-the-torch_1473816.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a42/hal-abelson-36322_civilization_universities-are-meant-to-pass-the-torch_1473816.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Universities are meant to pass the torch of civilization.” — Hal Abelson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Hal Abelson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-abelson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Universities are meant to pass the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/universities-are-meant-to-pass-the-torch-of-civilization/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-abelson/universities-are-meant-to-pass-the-torch-of-civilization/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```