--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Civilization comes at a cost of…" description: "\"Civilization comes at a cost of manliness. It comes at a cost of wildness, of risk, of strife. It comes at a cost of strength, of courage, of mastery. ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f61/jack-donovan-23606_civilization_civilization-comes-at-a-cost-of-manlines_2318092.jpg" --- # Civilization comes at a cost of manliness. It comes at a… ![“Civilization comes at a cost of manliness. It comes at a cost of wildness, of risk, of strife. It comes at a cost of strength, of courage, of mastery. It comes at a cost of honor. Increased civilization exacts a toll of virility, forcing manliness into further redoubts of vicariousness and…” quote by Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f61/jack-donovan-23606_civilization_civilization-comes-at-a-cost-of-manlines_2318092.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f61/jack-donovan-23606_civilization_civilization-comes-at-a-cost-of-manlines_2318092.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f61/jack-donovan-23606_civilization_civilization-comes-at-a-cost-of-manlines_2318092.jpg) > “Civilization comes at a cost of manliness. It comes at a cost of wildness, of risk, of strife. It comes at a cost of strength, of courage, of mastery. It comes at a cost of honor. Increased civilization exacts a toll of virility, forcing manliness into further redoubts of vicariousness and abstraction.” [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) ## 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 argues that as civilization advances, it diminishes traditional masculine qualities like strength, courage, and honor, replacing them with abstraction and indirectness. **In simple terms:** Civilization erodes traditional masculine traits. Key Takeaway Balance progress with preserving core virtues. Themes civilization masculinity tradition Mood reflective critical Type philosophical cultural When to use this quote - leadership roles - personal development - cultural critique Key Concepts cultural evolution masculine identity Questions to Reflect On - What virtues are lost in modernity? - How can we retain strength responsibly? A Different Perspective May romanticize “wildness” over beneficial societal structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Civilization Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization-comes-1885784/) [Cost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cost/) [Cost Manliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cost-manliness-5531053/) [Forcing Manliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forcing-manliness-5531055/) [Honor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honor/) [Increased Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/increased-civilization-5531054/) [Manhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manhood/) [Manliness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manliness/) [Manliness Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/manliness-comes-5267145/) [Mastery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mastery/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Strife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strife/) [Tolls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tolls/) [Wildness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wildness/) ## Related quotes > [How sad is that life when a man thinks that his manliness comes with asking sexual favours from a woman. That's the saddest way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parvathy/how-sad-is-that-life-when-a-man-thinks-that-his-manliness-comes-with/) [Parvathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parvathy/) > [“All civilization comes through literature now, especially in our country. A Greek got his civilization by talking and looking, and in some measure a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-dean-howells/all-civilization-comes-through-literature-now-especially-in-our/) [William Dean Howells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-dean-howells/) > [It's a curious thing, this thing we call civilization...we think it is an affair of epochs, and nations. It's really an affair of individuals.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-dean-howells/it-s-a-curious-thing-this-thing-we-call-civilization-we-think-it-is/) [William Dean Howells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-dean-howells/) > [It is clear that every civilization undergoes a process of historical change. We can see that a civilization comes into existence, passes through a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carroll-quigley/it-is-clear-that-every-civilization-undergoes-a-process-of-historical/) [Carroll Quigley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carroll-quigley/) > [I feel that I'm in a very interesting position, where I'm standing back to look at this change, at this moment in history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiroshi-sugimoto/i-feel-that-i-m-in-a-very-interesting-position-where-i-m-standing/) [Hiroshi Sugimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiroshi-sugimoto/) > [The downfall of every civilization comes, not from the moral corruption of the common man, but rather from the moral complacency of common men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-digby-baltzell/the-downfall-of-every-civilization-comes-not-from-the-moral/) [E. Digby Baltzell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-digby-baltzell/) > [When someone tells a man to be a man, they mean that there is a way to be a man. A man is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/when-someone-tells-a-man-to-be-a-man-they-mean-that-there-is-a-way-to/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [“I can show him how to be the right kind of stupid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-harkaway/i-can-show-him-how-to-be-the-right-kind-of-stupid/) [Nick Harkaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-harkaway/) > [Now see what a Christian is, drawn by the hand of Christ. He is a man on whose clear and open brow God has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/now-see-what-a-christian-is-drawn-by-the-hand-of-christ-he-is-a-man/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [The world cries for men who are strong--strong in conviction, strong to lead, to stand, to suffer. I pray that you will be that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-elliot/the-world-cries-for-men-who-are-strong-strong-in-conviction-strong-to/) [Elisabeth Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-elliot/) > [It is a higher exhibition of Christian manliness to be able to bear trouble than to get rid of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/it-is-a-higher-exhibition-of-christian-manliness-to-be-able-to-bear/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [I guess in my own life I don't really think much about manliness too much. I feel like a lot of men that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-alarcon/i-guess-in-my-own-life-i-don-t-really-think-much-about-manliness-too/) [Daniel Alarcon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-alarcon/) > [I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/i-am-convinced-that-the-truest-act-of-courage-the-strongest-act-of/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [“If men and women were surer of their God there would be more genuine manliness, womanliness, and godliness in the world, and a whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-elliot/if-men-and-women-were-surer-of-their-god-there-would-be-more-genuine/) [Elisabeth Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-elliot/) > [“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/) ## More by Jack Donovan > [“The natural gods of men are other men, mythic or real, who embody manhood in men's eyes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/the-natural-gods-of-men-are-other-men-mythic-or-real-who-embody/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [As things get worse and the State seems powerless to help, the State will seem less and less legitimate. People will lose their moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/as-things-get-worse-and-the-state-seems-powerless-to-help-the-state/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [It must be scary to stand up for beliefs also held by Eric Holder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/it-must-be-scary-to-stand-up-for-beliefs-also-held-by-eric-holder/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [Violence is the gold standard, the reserve that guarantees order. In actuality, it is better than a gold standard, because violence has universal value.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/violence-is-the-gold-standard-the-reserve-that-guarantees-order-in/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [Strength, Courage, Mastery, and Honor are the alpha virtues of men all over the world. They are the fundamental virtues of men because without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/strength-courage-mastery-and-honor-are-the-alpha-virtues-of-men-all/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [“Men cannot be men—much less good or heroic men—unless their actions have meaningful consequences to people they truly care about. Strength requires an opposing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/men-cannot-be-men-much-less-good-or-heroic-men-unless-their-actions/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [“Until you can function as a competent member of the group and carry your own weight, you are a supplicant and a drag on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/until-you-can-function-as-a-competent-member-of-the-group-and-carry/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [Men of ideas and men of action have much to learn from each other, and the truly great are men of both action and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/men-of-ideas-and-men-of-action-have-much-to-learn-from-each-other-and/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [Sometimes men pick fights just for something to do-just to feel something like the threat of harm and the possibility of triumph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/sometimes-men-pick-fights-just-for-something-to-do-just-to-feel/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [When men evaluate each other as men, they still look for the same virtues that they'd need to keep the perimeter. Men respond to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/when-men-evaluate-each-other-as-men-they-still-look-for-the-same/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [Without action, words are just words. Without violence, laws are just words. Violence isn’t the only answer, but it is the final answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/without-action-words-are-just-words-without-violence-laws-are-just/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [Gay is a subculture, a slur, a set of gestures, a slang, a look, a posture, a parade, a rainbow flag, a film genre,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/gay-is-a-subculture-a-slur-a-set-of-gestures-a-slang-a-look-a-posture/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [White guilt is more of a sanctioned social convention than a genuine emotional experience. It’s a form of theatrical empathy that’s socially and financially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/white-guilt-is-more-of-a-sanctioned-social-convention-than-a-genuine/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [Violence isn't the only answer, but it is the final answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/violence-isn-t-the-only-answer-but-it-is-the-final-answer/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) > [A man is not merely a man but a man among men, in a world of men. Being good at being a man has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/a-man-is-not-merely-a-man-but-a-man-among-men-in-a-world-of-men-being/) [Jack Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) [Explore all 25 Jack Donovan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/) ## 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": "Civilization comes at a cost of manliness. It comes at a cost of wildness, of risk, of strife. It comes at a cost of strength, of courage, of mastery. It comes at a cost of honor. Increased civilization exacts a toll of virility, forcing manliness into further redoubts of vicariousness and abstraction.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jack Donovan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/civilization-comes-at-a-cost-of-manliness-it-comes-at-a-cost-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civilization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/civilization-comes-at-a-cost-of-manliness-it-comes-at-a-cost-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f61/jack-donovan-23606_civilization_civilization-comes-at-a-cost-of-manlines_2318092.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f61/jack-donovan-23606_civilization_civilization-comes-at-a-cost-of-manlines_2318092.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f61/jack-donovan-23606_civilization_civilization-comes-at-a-cost-of-manlines_2318092.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Civilization comes at a cost of manliness. It comes at a cost of wildness, of risk, of strife. It comes at a…” — Jack Donovan", "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": "Jack Donovan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-donovan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Civilization comes at a cost of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/civilization-comes-at-a-cost-of-manliness-it-comes-at-a-cost-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-donovan/civilization-comes-at-a-cost-of-manliness-it-comes-at-a-cost-of/#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 } } ] } ```