--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The modern age has carried with it a…" description: "\"“The modern age has carried with it a theoretical glorification of labor and has resulted in a factual transformation of the whole of society into a la..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/hannah-arendt-610_change_the-modern-age-has-carried-with-it-a-the_2437592.jpg" --- # The modern age has carried with it a theoretical… ![“The modern age has carried with it a theoretical glorification of labor and has resulted in a factual transformation of the whole of society into a laboring society. The fulfilment of the wish, therefore, like the fulfilment of wishes in fairy tales, comes at a moment when it can only be…” quote by Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/hannah-arendt-610_change_the-modern-age-has-carried-with-it-a-the_2437592.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/hannah-arendt-610_change_the-modern-age-has-carried-with-it-a-the_2437592.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e1/hannah-arendt-610_change_the-modern-age-has-carried-with-it-a-the_2437592.jpg) > ““The modern age has carried with it a theoretical glorification of labor and has resulted in a factual transformation of the whole of society into a laboring society. The fulfilment of the wish, therefore, like the fulfilment of wishes in fairy tales, comes at a moment when it can only be self-defeating. It is a society of laborers which is about to be liberated from the fetters of labor, and this society does no longer know of those other higher and more meaningful activities for the sake of which this freedom would deserve to be won. Within this society, which is egalitarian because this is labor’s way of making men live together, there is no class left, no aristocracy of either a political or spiritual nature from which a restoration of the other capacities of man could start anew. Even presidents, kings, and prime ministers think of their offices in terms of a job necessary for the life of society, and among the intellectuals, only solitary individuals are left who consider what they are doing in terms of work and not in terms of making a living. What we are confronted with is the prospect of a society of laborers without labor, that is, without the only activity left to them. Surely, nothing could be worse.”” [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critiques a society that reduces all human activity to labor, losing higher purpose and class distinctions. **In simple terms:** A labor‑only society loses meaning. Key Takeaway Seek purpose beyond work. Themes labor societal structure meaning class individuality Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - career planning - policy debate - personal development Key Concepts alienation existential risk social critique Questions to Reflect On - What activities can fulfill higher purposes? - How can societies balance work and meaning? A Different Perspective May idealize labor without practical solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Egalitarian Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/egalitarian-labor-360438/) [Fairy tale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairy-tale/) [Fairy tales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fairy-tales/) [Laboring Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laboring-society-360435/) [Making a living](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-a-living/) [Society Egalitarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-egalitarian-360439/) [Society Laborers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-laborers-360437/) [Society Laboring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society-laboring-360436/) [Spiritual nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual-nature/) ## Related quotes > [“Freedom from labor itself is not new; it once belonged among the most firmly established privileges of the few. In this instance, it seems…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/freedom-from-labor-itself-is-not-new-it-once-belonged-among-the-most/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [... we have almost succeeded in leveling all human activities to the common denominator of securing the necessities of life and providing for their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/we-have-almost-succeeded-in-leveling-all-human-activities-to-the-2/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [It is a society of laborers which is about to be liberatedfrom the ferrets of labor, and this society does no longer know of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-is-a-society-of-laborers-which-is-about-to-be-liberatedfrom-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [It is a society of laborers which is about to be liberated from the ferrets of labor, and this society does no longer know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-is-a-society-of-laborers-which-is-about-to-be-liberated-from-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [A premise of the new city is that we want a society to be as egalitarian as possible. For this purpose, quality-of-life distribution is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrique-penalosa/a-premise-of-the-new-city-is-that-we-want-a-society-to-be-as/) [Enrique Penalosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrique-penalosa/) > [A few of the sublimest geniuses of Rome and Athens had some faint discoveries of the spiritual nature of the human soul, and formed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brainerd/a-few-of-the-sublimest-geniuses-of-rome-and-athens-had-some-faint/) [David Brainerd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brainerd/) > [“There are, on the other hand, very great men, very holy men, very pure men in every way, whose knowledge is wide and vast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-de-purucker/there-are-on-the-other-hand-very-great-men-very-holy-men-very-pure/) [G. de Purucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-de-purucker/) > [The mind is acquired "human nature". The conscience is inherent "spiritual nature".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-gardner/the-mind-is-acquired-human-nature-the-conscience-is-inherent/) [Ian Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-gardner/) > [“Dreams are spiritual in nature but not physical as the scientist want to portray it to the world.Your dreams are the spiritual aspect of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alhassan-iddrisu/dreams-are-spiritual-in-nature-but-not-physical-as-the-scientist-want/) [Alhassan Iddrisu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alhassan-iddrisu/) > [The solution for mankind is of a spiritual nature. It is not a political or religious solution. It's the ability to love each other.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziggy-marley/the-solution-for-mankind-is-of-a-spiritual-nature-it-is-not-a/) [Ziggy Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziggy-marley/) > [I strive to express the spiritual nature of the Universe. Painting for me is a dynamic balance and wholeness of life; it is mysterious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-pousette-dart/i-strive-to-express-the-spiritual-nature-of-the-universe-painting-for/) [Richard Pousette-Dart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-pousette-dart/) > [“We think that there are people who are normal over here, and then there’s the pathological ones who have depression, anxiety, addiction or schizophrenia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/we-think-that-there-are-people-who-are-normal-over-here-and-then/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [Yoga teaches us both to let go and to have exquisite awareness in every moment. We remember our essential spiritual nature and life becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/yoga-teaches-us-both-to-let-go-and-to-have-exquisite-awareness-in/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [The woman who first gives life, light, and form to our shadowy conceptions of beauty, fills a void in our spiritual nature that has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilkie-collins/the-woman-who-first-gives-life-light-and-form-to-our-shadowy/) [Wilkie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilkie-collins/) > [I would call myself a Gnostic. Which means, I'm interested in pursuing and understanding the spiritual nature of things. A Gnostic is somebody seeking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-crumb/i-would-call-myself-a-gnostic-which-means-i-m-interested-in-pursuing/) [Robert Crumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-crumb/) ## More by Hannah Arendt > [“It means, first, that everything that appears in public can be seen and heard by everybody and has the widest possible publicity. For us,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-means-first-that-everything-that-appears-in-public-can-be-seen-and/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Without being forgiven, released from the consequences of what we have done, our capacity to act would, as it were, be confined to one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/without-being-forgiven-released-from-the-consequences-of-what-we-have/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [The practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is a more violent world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-practice-of-violence-like-all-action-changes-the-world-but-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“Nationalism always preserved this initial intimate loyalty to the government and never quite lost its function of preserving a precarious balance between nation and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/nationalism-always-preserved-this-initial-intimate-loyalty-to-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [There is all the difference in the world between the criminal's avoiding the public eye and the civil disobedience's taking the law into his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/there-is-all-the-difference-in-the-world-between-the-criminal-s/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“What imperialists actually wanted was expansion of political power without the foundation of the body politic. Imperialist expansion had been touched off by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-imperialists-actually-wanted-was-expansion-of-political-power/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [the greater the bureaucratization of public life, the greater will be the attraction of violence. In a fully developed bureaucracy there is nobody left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/the-greater-the-bureaucratization-of-public-life-the-greater-will-be/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/forgiveness-is-the-key-to-action-and-freedom/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Death not merely ends life, it also bestows upon it a silent completeness, snatched from the hazardous flux to which all things human are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/death-not-merely-ends-life-it-also-bestows-upon-it-a-silent/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/only-crime-and-the-criminal-it-is-true-confront-us-with-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [We have almost succeeded in leveling all human activities to the common denominator of securing the necessities of life and providing for their abundance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/we-have-almost-succeeded-in-leveling-all-human-activities-to-the/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“Totalitarian politics—far from being simply antisemitic or racist or imperialist or communist—use and abuse their own ideological and political elements until the basis of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/totalitarian-politics-far-from-being-simply-antisemitic-or-racist-or/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [“It is like the distinction between war and peace: just as war takes place for the sake of peace, thus every kind of activity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/it-is-like-the-distinction-between-war-and-peace-just-as-war-takes/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [Every end in history necessarily contains a new beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/every-end-in-history-necessarily-contains-a-new-beginning/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) [Explore all 405 Hannah Arendt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) ## More Change quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) [Phil Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-hogan/) > [Nobody can tell me that no changes are necessary in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-weld/nobody-can-tell-me-that-no-changes-are-necessary-in-washington/) [William Weld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-weld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/when-you-walk-down-the-street-of-kabul-your-values-for-life-changes/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [Your world will change whether or not you choose to change, but you have the power to choose it's direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/your-world-will-change-whether-or-not-you-choose-to-change-but-you/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [“Stay focused on bringing people together and more on positive messaging so that you can be the change you wish to see in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/stay-focused-on-bringing-people-together-and-more-on-positive/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [“After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/after-the-funeral-my-life-changed-i-felt-as-if-time-were-suddenly/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. 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