--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Even today to be civilised is held to be…" description: "\"Even today to be civilised is held to be synonymous with being westernised. Advanced countries devote large resources to formulating and spreading idea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/indira-gandhi-1113_civilised_even-today-to-be-civilised-is-held-to-be_55706.jpg" --- # Even today to be civilised is held to be synonymous with… ![“Even today to be civilised is held to be synonymous with being westernised. Advanced countries devote large resources to formulating and spreading ideas and doctrines and they tend to impose on the developing nations their own norms and methods. The pattern of the classical acquisitive society…” quote by Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/indira-gandhi-1113_civilised_even-today-to-be-civilised-is-held-to-be_55706.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/indira-gandhi-1113_civilised_even-today-to-be-civilised-is-held-to-be_55706.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/709/indira-gandhi-1113_civilised_even-today-to-be-civilised-is-held-to-be_55706.jpg) > “Even today to be civilised is held to be synonymous with being westernised. Advanced countries devote large resources to formulating and spreading ideas and doctrines and they tend to impose on the developing nations their own norms and methods. The pattern of the classical acquisitive society with its deliberate multiplication of wants not only is unsuited to conditions in our countries but is positively harmful.” [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques the equation of civilization with Westernization, arguing that imposing Western norms and consumerist drives on developing nations is inappropriate and damaging. **In simple terms:** Westernization ≠ true civilization Key Takeaway Imposing foreign models can harm local societies Themes colonialism cultural imperialism development consumerism globalization Mood critical reflective concerned Type political philosophical When to use this quote - policy formulation in developing nations - international aid programs - cultural exchange debates - economic development planning Key Concepts civilization Western norms developmental disparity cultural autonomy Practical Applications - reassessing foreign aid strategies - promoting locally rooted development models Questions to Reflect On - How can development respect local cultural values? - What alternatives exist to Western-centric development models? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilised/) [Conditions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conditions/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Deliberate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deliberate/) [Developing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/developing/) [Doctrine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctrine/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Imperialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imperialism/) [Method](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/method/) [Multiplication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/multiplication/) [Nations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nations/) [Norm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/norm/) [Our country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-country/) [Patterns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patterns/) [Positively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positively/) [Resources](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resources/) [Synonymous Westernised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/synonymous-westernised-774886/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Today Civilised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today-civilised-774885/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Westernised](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/westernised-774884/) [Westernised Advanced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/westernised-advanced-774883/) ## Related quotes > [Istanbul is a vast place. There are very conservative neighbourhoods, there are places that are upper class, Westernised, consuming Western culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/istanbul-is-a-vast-place-there-are-very-conservative-neighbourhoods/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [Tel Aviv is extremely westernised, it's like a little America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-ingles/tel-aviv-is-extremely-westernised-it-s-like-a-little-america/) [Joe Ingles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-ingles/) > [Society has been conditioned for a very long time to see beauty as something that's been westernised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zozibini-tunzi/society-has-been-conditioned-for-a-very-long-time-to-see-beauty-as/) [Zozibini Tunzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zozibini-tunzi/) > [But the weakness comes from these Westernised co-opted Muslim leaders who just want to look good in the eyes of the West and Western…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abu-bakar-bashir/but-the-weakness-comes-from-these-westernised-co-opted-muslim-leaders/) [Abu Bakar Bashir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abu-bakar-bashir/) > [My grandmother taught me two very important lessons before she passed: hold the door for everyone and always say "thank you." That means to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-skolnik/my-grandmother-taught-me-two-very-important-lessons-before-she-passed/) [Michael Skolnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-skolnik/) > [Had my life increased, or merely added to itself? There had been addition and subtraction in my life, but how much multiplication?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-barnes/had-my-life-increased-or-merely-added-to-itself-there-had-been/) [Julian Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-barnes/) > [The mind reels at the multiplication of books intended to justify the author's promotion from assistant to associate professor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-northcote-parkinson/the-mind-reels-at-the-multiplication-of-books-intended-to-justify-the/) [C. Northcote Parkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-northcote-parkinson/) > [It cannot but happen?that those will survive whose functions happen to be most nearly in equilibrium with the modified aggregate of external forces? This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/it-cannot-but-happen-that-those-will-survive-whose-functions-happen/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [It is the multiplication of men who are exluded from working which provokes war. We ought at least to bear this in mind when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/it-is-the-multiplication-of-men-who-are-exluded-from-working-which/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [My youngest sister, Cindy, has Down syndrome, and I remember my mother spending hours and hours with her, teaching her to tie her shoelaces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-chua/my-youngest-sister-cindy-has-down-syndrome-and-i-remember-my-mother/) [Amy Chua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-chua/) > [To prove that tuberculosis is caused by the invasion of bacilli, and that it is a parasitic disease primarily caused by the growth and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-koch/to-prove-that-tuberculosis-is-caused-by-the-invasion-of-bacilli-and/) [Robert Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-koch/) > [Working together precedes winning together...collaboration is multiplication.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/working-together-precedes-winning-together-collaboration-is/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [The monopoly of a single bank is certainly an evil. The multiplication of them was intended to cure it; but it multiplied an influence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-monopoly-of-a-single-bank-is-certainly-an-evil-the-multiplication/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“If you have half a nothing - sell it for a double something, resell half at double-price, and buy another something and a half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-advise/if-you-have-half-a-nothing-sell-it-for-a-double-something-resell-half/) [Will Advise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-advise/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) [Greg Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-perry/) ## More by Indira Gandhi > [I don't see why we and the Chinese should have to be enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-don-t-see-why-we-and-the-chinese-should-have-to-be-enemies/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [Politics...You see, it depends on what kind of politics. What we did during my father's generation was a duty. And it was beautiful because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/politics-you-see-it-depends-on-what-kind-of-politics-what-we-did/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [I'm not ambitious. Not a bit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-m-not-ambitious-not-a-bit/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [In all societies that have applied a form of socialism, a certain degree of social economic equality has been achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/in-all-societies-that-have-applied-a-form-of-socialism-a-certain/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [I cannot understand how anyone can be an Indian and not be proud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-cannot-understand-how-anyone-can-be-an-indian-and-not-be-proud/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [To me the function of politics is to make possible the desirable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/to-me-the-function-of-politics-is-to-make-possible-the-desirable/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [To become capable, one must have faith in oneself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/to-become-capable-one-must-have-faith-in-oneself/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [If we offer something to Bangladesh, it's obvious that Bangladesh is offering something to us. And why shouldn't Bangladesh be able to keep its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/if-we-offer-something-to-bangladesh-it-s-obvious-that-bangladesh-is/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [The India I want, I'll never tire of repeating, is a more just and less poor India, one entirely free of foreign influences. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/the-india-i-want-i-ll-never-tire-of-repeating-is-a-more-just-and-less/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [Satisfied is a word I use only in reference to my country, and I'll never be satisfied for my country. For this reasons I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/satisfied-is-a-word-i-use-only-in-reference-to-my-country-and-i-ll/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [I always wanted to have children - if it had been up to me, I would have had eleven. It was my husband who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-always-wanted-to-have-children-if-it-had-been-up-to-me-i-would-have/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [Defeats are always pitiful. Victories are always last resources.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/defeats-are-always-pitiful-victories-are-always-last-resources/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [To be liberated, woman must feel free to be herself, not in rivalry to man but in the context of her own capacity and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/to-be-liberated-woman-must-feel-free-to-be-herself-not-in-rivalry-to/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [We do not wish to impoverish the environment any further, and yet we cannot for a moment forget the grim poverty of large numbers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/we-do-not-wish-to-impoverish-the-environment-any-further-and-yet-we/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [I have already reached out to the janata, and I am only trying to acquaint myself with people's problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-have-already-reached-out-to-the-janata-and-i-am-only-trying-to/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) [Explore all 290 Indira Gandhi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) ## More Civilised quotes > [Civilised my syphilised yarbles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/civilised-my-syphilised-yarbles/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [On this waterlogged landscape…are scattered palaces and hovels…It is here that the human spirit becomes perfect, and at the same time brutalised, that civilisation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/on-this-waterlogged-landscape-are-scattered-palaces-and-hovels-it-is/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [When we get civilised, I believe children will go by number until they get old enough to choose their own names.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myrtle-reed/when-we-get-civilised-i-believe-children-will-go-by-number-until-they/) [Myrtle Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myrtle-reed/) > [This extraordinary metal, the soul of every manufacture, and the mainspring perhaps of civilised society. Of iron.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/this-extraordinary-metal-the-soul-of-every-manufacture-and-the/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The civilised cultures are the most cruel. It's the same with education - often it breeds sadistic forms of cruelty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nellie-mckay/the-civilised-cultures-are-the-most-cruel-it-s-the-same-with/) [Nellie McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nellie-mckay/) > [This generation may either be the last to exist in any semblance of a civilised world or that it will be the first to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-st-barbe-baker/this-generation-may-either-be-the-last-to-exist-in-any-semblance-of-a/) [Richard St. Barbe Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-st-barbe-baker/) > [Bombing is not especially inhumane. War itself is inhumane and the bombing plane, which is used to paralyse industry and transport, is a relatively…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/bombing-is-not-especially-inhumane-war-itself-is-inhumane-and-the/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I suffered most inconvenience from the difficulty of getting news from the civilised world down river, from the irregularity of receipt of letters, parcels…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-walter-bates/i-suffered-most-inconvenience-from-the-difficulty-of-getting-news/) [Henry Walter Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-walter-bates/) > [Architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and poetry, may truly be called the efflorescence of civilised life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/architecture-sculpture-painting-music-and-poetry-may-truly-be-called/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [You get the feeling that many of my guests feel that the French language gives them entry into a more cultivated, more intelligent world,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-pivot/you-get-the-feeling-that-many-of-my-guests-feel-that-the-french/) [Bernard Pivot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-pivot/) > [All civilised countries should unite in the fight against international terrorism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-putin/all-civilised-countries-should-unite-in-the-fight-against/) [Vladimir Putin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-putin/) > [The true savage is a slave, and is always talking about what he must do; the true civilised man is a free man, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-true-savage-is-a-slave-and-is-always-talking-about-what-he-must/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The point about zero is that we do not need to use it in the operations of daily life. No one goes out to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-point-about-zero-is-that-we-do-not-need-to-use-it-in-the/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Sex is probably one of the last forms of human expression to enjoy such a direct connection with nature. It might be the primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-koerfer/sex-is-probably-one-of-the-last-forms-of-human-expression-to-enjoy/) [Thomas Koerfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-koerfer/) > [The Germans, in the age of Tacitus, were unacquainted with the use of letters; and the use of letters is the principal circumstance that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-germans-in-the-age-of-tacitus-were-unacquainted-with-the-use-of/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) [Browse all 122 Civilised quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilised/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Even today to be civilised is held to be synonymous with being westernised. Advanced countries devote large resources to formulating and spreading ideas and doctrines and they tend to impose on the developing nations their own norms and methods. 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