--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our institutions have a potent digestion…" description: "\"Our institutions have a potent digestion, and may in time convert and assimilate to good all elements thrown in, however originally alien.\" — Herman Me..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f66/herman-melville-162_aliens_our-institutions-have-a-potent-digestion_1185956.jpg" --- # Our institutions have a potent digestion, and may in time… ![“Our institutions have a potent digestion, and may in time convert and assimilate to good all elements thrown in, however originally alien.” quote by Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f66/herman-melville-162_aliens_our-institutions-have-a-potent-digestion_1185956.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f66/herman-melville-162_aliens_our-institutions-have-a-potent-digestion_1185956.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f66/herman-melville-162_aliens_our-institutions-have-a-potent-digestion_1185956.jpg) > “Our institutions have a potent digestion, and may in time convert and assimilate to good all elements thrown in, however originally alien.” [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Institutions can absorb and transform foreign ideas, eventually turning them into beneficial parts of the system. **In simple terms:** Institutions adapt and improve by integrating new elements. Key Takeaway Leverage institutional capacity for positive change. Themes adaptation institutional change culture Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - policy reform - corporate mergers - cultural exchange Key Concepts systems theory social integration Questions to Reflect On - How can we facilitate healthy assimilation? - What risks arise from uncritical integration? A Different Perspective Change can be slow and resisted by entrenched interests. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aliens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aliens/) [Elements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elements/) [Institutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutions/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [First, I was opposed to gay marriage because it seemed like one more way that gays were wanting to assimilate. When I realized the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-white/first-i-was-opposed-to-gay-marriage-because-it-seemed-like-one-more/) [Edmund White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-white/) > [When Superman was originally created, by Siegel and Shuster, they were two Jewish immigrants that were desperately trying to assimilate into America. They were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-s-goyer/when-superman-was-originally-created-by-siegel-and-shuster-they-were/) [David S. Goyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-s-goyer/) > [“An ordinary teacher teaches how to accumulate information. A good teacher teaches how to assimilate information. A great teacher teaches how to stand up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-ray/an-ordinary-teacher-teaches-how-to-accumulate-information-a-good/) [Amit Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-ray/) > [Immigrants who voluntarily come to a country have already made a decision to assimilate to one degree or another. Probably not completely, but they've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nguyen-viet-thang/immigrants-who-voluntarily-come-to-a-country-have-already-made-a/) [Nguyen Viet Thang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nguyen-viet-thang/) > [If you continue to assimilate the values of others: Then you can not for the ever-inspiring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/if-you-continue-to-assimilate-the-values-of-others-then-you-can-not/) Mak\_786 > [I was far too embarrassed to share the experience of Indian food at school. As a kid, you're desperate to fit in, to assimilate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sanjeev-bhaskar/i-was-far-too-embarrassed-to-share-the-experience-of-indian-food-at/) [Sanjeev Bhaskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sanjeev-bhaskar/) > [Especially for young POC, when we enter majority-white spaces, we feel the need to assimilate, to blend in, to prove ourselves. I don't think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angie-thomas/especially-for-young-poc-when-we-enter-majority-white-spaces-we-feel/) [Angie Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angie-thomas/) > [I tried to assimilate and mix myself in with everybody, but I still stood out because of my mannerisms, the way I spoke, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-goreski/i-tried-to-assimilate-and-mix-myself-in-with-everybody-but-i-still/) [Brad Goreski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-goreski/) > [Assimilate this! -Worf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/star-trek/assimilate-this-worf/) Star Trek > [Assimilate all you can from tradition and then say things in your own way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-french-sloan/assimilate-all-you-can-from-tradition-and-then-say-things-in-your-own/) [John French Sloan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-french-sloan/) > [“If you aren't destroying your enemies, it's because you have been conquered and assimilated, you do not even have an idea of who your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/if-you-aren-t-destroying-your-enemies-it-s-because-you-have-been/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“The process of trying to assimilate into an existing category in many ways runs counter to efforts to produce radical or revolutionary results.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-y-davis/the-process-of-trying-to-assimilate-into-an-existing-category-in-many/) [Angela Y. Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-y-davis/) > [I've deliberately studied many things that I know, going in, I won't be able to assimilate. I read Plato, St. Thomas, the mystics, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-ameche/i-ve-deliberately-studied-many-things-that-i-know-going-in-i-won-t-be/) [Don Ameche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-ameche/) > [“It's a fact— everyone is ignorant in some way or another. Ignorance is our deepest secret. And it is one of the scariest things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/it-s-a-fact-everyone-is-ignorant-in-some-way-or-another-ignorance-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [Imitate, assimilate & innovate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clark-terry/imitate-assimilate-innovate/) [Clark Terry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clark-terry/) ## More by Herman Melville > [“and man, though idiotic, and knowing not what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/and-man-though-idiotic-and-knowing-not-what-he-does-yet-full-of-the/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“But were the coming narrative to reveal in any instance, the complete abasement of poor Starbuck's fortitude, scarce might I have the heart to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/but-were-the-coming-narrative-to-reveal-in-any-instance-the-complete/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“(On Ralph Waldo Emerson)I love all men who dive. 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For hardly have we mortals by long toilings extracted from this world's vast bulk its small but valuable sperm; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/yet-this-is-life-for-hardly-have-we-mortals-by-long-toilings/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [I never fancied broiling fowls; - though once broiled, judiciously buttered, and judgmatically salted and peppered, there is no one who will speak more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/i-never-fancied-broiling-fowls-though-once-broiled-judiciously/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [War should be carried on like a monsoon; one changeless determination of every particle towards the one unalterable aim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/war-should-be-carried-on-like-a-monsoon-one-changeless-determination/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Genius is full of trash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/genius-is-full-of-trash/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) [Explore all 1,009 Herman Melville quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) ## More Aliens quotes > [My days – the blossom of my youth and the flower of my manhood – have been darkened by the dreariness of servitude. 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