--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: INVENTING A WRITING system from scratch…" description: "\"“INVENTING A WRITING system from scratch must have been incomparably more difficult than borrowing and adapting one. The first scribes had to settle on..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68a/jared-diamond-2519_inventing_inventing-a-writing-system-from-scratch_3096542.jpg" --- # INVENTING A WRITING system from scratch must have been… ![“INVENTING A WRITING system from scratch must have been incomparably more difficult than borrowing and adapting one. The first scribes had to settle on basic principles that we now take for granted. For example, they had to figure out how to decompose a continuous utterance into speech units…” quote by Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68a/jared-diamond-2519_inventing_inventing-a-writing-system-from-scratch_3096542.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68a/jared-diamond-2519_inventing_inventing-a-writing-system-from-scratch_3096542.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/68a/jared-diamond-2519_inventing_inventing-a-writing-system-from-scratch_3096542.jpg) > ““INVENTING A WRITING system from scratch must have been incomparably more difficult than borrowing and adapting one. The first scribes had to settle on basic principles that we now take for granted. For example, they had to figure out how to decompose a continuous utterance into speech units, regardless of whether those units were taken as words, syllables, or phonemes. They”” [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating a writing system from scratch is far harder than adapting existing ones, requiring fundamental decisions on language units. **In simple terms:** Inventing writing is extremely hard. Key Takeaway Respect the complexity of foundational innovations. Themes language writing innovation history Mood analytical academic Type educational historical When to use this quote - teaching linguistics - designing alphabets - historical analysis Key Concepts phonemes syllables words systems design Questions to Reflect On - What core decisions define a new system? - How do we balance originality with usability? A Different Perspective Adaptation can be more practical than invention. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adapting Scribes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adapting-scribes-5347289/) [Inventing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventing/) [Inventing Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventing-writing-5347288/) [Scribes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scribes/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“As we shall see, the prerequisites for those developments consisted of several features of human society that determined whether a society would find writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/as-we-shall-see-the-prerequisites-for-those-developments-consisted-of/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“or just inventing a new letter (as our medieval ancestors did when they created the new letters j, u, and w).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/or-just-inventing-a-new-letter-as-our-medieval-ancestors-did-when/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Zia," I said, "that's a goddess. She defeated Bast. What chance do you have?" Zia held up her staff and the carved lion's head…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/zia-i-said-that-s-a-goddess-she-defeated-bast-what-chance-do-you-have/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [About Mahatma Gandhi: Great in taking decisions, great in executing them, Mahatma Gandhi was incomparably great in the last stand which he made on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chittaranjan-das/about-mahatma-gandhi-great-in-taking-decisions-great-in-executing/) [Chittaranjan Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chittaranjan-das/) > [For Poesy alone can tell her dreams, With the fine spell of words alone can save Imagination from the sable charm And dumb enchantment.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/for-poesy-alone-can-tell-her-dreams-with-the-fine-spell-of-words/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [I want to say to all you Scribes, Pharisees, heresy hunters, all of you that are going around pickin' little bits of doctrinal error…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-crouch/i-want-to-say-to-all-you-scribes-pharisees-heresy-hunters-all-of-you/) [Paul Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-crouch/) > [Between the scribe who has read and the prophet who has seen there is a difference as wide as the sea. We are today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/between-the-scribe-who-has-read-and-the-prophet-who-has-seen-there-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“May the scribes record it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-gerard-trotman/may-the-scribes-record-it/) [Wayne Gerard Trotman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-gerard-trotman/) > [Behold, I am writing anew, through scribes on Earth who are willing to listen to me again with new ears, in the light of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-marx-hubbard/behold-i-am-writing-anew-through-scribes-on-earth-who-are-willing-to/) [Barbara Marx Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-marx-hubbard/) > [It was stone carvers in ancient Rome, scribes in the Middle Ages, all the way through Gutenberg to the present day. That's a pretty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bierut/it-was-stone-carvers-in-ancient-rome-scribes-in-the-middle-ages-all/) [Michael Bierut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bierut/) > [Yes, the natural sciences are telling us a great deal about human origins, the origins of our species the origins of our minds; we're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-o-wilson/yes-the-natural-sciences-are-telling-us-a-great-deal-about-human/) [E. O. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-o-wilson/) > [Memory is the scribe of the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/memory-is-the-scribe-of-the-soul/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“Writers are not exactly storytellers, but scribes for the worlds beyond the grasps, beyond the conceptions of the common mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bailey-elizabeth/writers-are-not-exactly-storytellers-but-scribes-for-the-worlds/) [Bailey Elizabeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bailey-elizabeth/) > [When cities were first founded, an old Egyptian scribe tells us, the mission of the founder was to 'put gods in their shrines.' The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/when-cities-were-first-founded-an-old-egyptian-scribe-tells-us-the/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [Writing is eternal, For therein the dead heart liveth, the clay-cold tongue is eloquent, And the quick eye of the reader is cleared by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/writing-is-eternal-for-therein-the-dead-heart-liveth-the-clay-cold/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) ## More by Jared Diamond > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [What did the last Easter Islander say as he chopped down the last tree? The Easter Islanders didnt have anthropologists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/what-did-the-last-easter-islander-say-as-he-chopped-down-the-last/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“We come to conquer this land by his command, that all may come to a knowledge of God and of His Holy Catholic Faith;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/we-come-to-conquer-this-land-by-his-command-that-all-may-come-to-a/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“With the rise of chiefdoms around 7,500 years ago, people had to learn, for the first time in history, how to encounter strangers regularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/with-the-rise-of-chiefdoms-around-7-500-years-ago-people-had-to-learn/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Human societies vary in lots of independent factors affecting their openness to innovation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/human-societies-vary-in-lots-of-independent-factors-affecting-their/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [No government is here forever. And there are other forces - the most potent force in our society, in fact, big business - doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/no-government-is-here-forever-and-there-are-other-forces-the-most/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“Those parasites pass to a person from an eaten animal, but the virus causing laughing sickness (kuru) in the New Guinea highlands used to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/those-parasites-pass-to-a-person-from-an-eaten-animal-but-the-virus/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“...invokes the supposed stimulatory effects of their homeland's cold climate and the inhibitory effects of hot, humid, tropical climates on human creativity and energy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/invokes-the-supposed-stimulatory-effects-of-their-homeland-s-cold/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“Throughout the Americas, diseases introduced with Europeans spread from tribe to tribe far in advance of the Europeans themselves, killing an estimated 95 percent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/throughout-the-americas-diseases-introduced-with-europeans-spread/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples' environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/history-followed-different-courses-for-different-peoples-because-of/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [We study the injustices of history for the same reason that we study genocide, and for the same reason that psychologists study the minds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/we-study-the-injustices-of-history-for-the-same-reason-that-we-study/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [I decided that now is the time to start doing the things that really interest me and I find important. It was in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/i-decided-that-now-is-the-time-to-start-doing-the-things-that-really/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“As a result of that confined distribution, peoples who pride themselves on being civilized have always viewed writing as the sharpest distinction raising them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/as-a-result-of-that-confined-distribution-peoples-who-pride/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [Infectious diseases introduced with Europeans, like smallpox and measles, spread from one Indian tribe to another, far in advance of Europeans themselves, and killed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/infectious-diseases-introduced-with-europeans-like-smallpox-and/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [In fact, everywhere in the world there has been a flux between big and small societies. Big political units are constantly being formed, later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/in-fact-everywhere-in-the-world-there-has-been-a-flux-between-big-and/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) [Explore all 161 Jared Diamond quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) ## More Inventing quotes > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) > [With all the technology we're inventing and what they're coming up with scientifically, people are having longer lifetimes. It's scary, but in the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittany-murphy/with-all-the-technology-we-re-inventing-and-what-they-re-coming-up/) [Brittany Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittany-murphy/) > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) > [Each time one prematurely teaches a child something he could have discovered himself, that child is kept from inventing it and consequently from understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/each-time-one-prematurely-teaches-a-child-something-he-could-have/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [The essential functions of the mind consist in understanding and in inventing, in other words, in building up structures by structuring reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/the-essential-functions-of-the-mind-consist-in-understanding-and-in/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [As human beings, we are the only organisms that create for the sheer stupid pleasure of doing so. Whether it's laying out a garden,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/as-human-beings-we-are-the-only-organisms-that-create-for-the-sheer/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) > [“He was forever inventing a new way of doing an old thing and doing it better and quicker, but he never in his whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/he-was-forever-inventing-a-new-way-of-doing-an-old-thing-and-doing-it/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I'm inventing new principles. The audience has a point of view that no one can predict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-copperfield/i-m-inventing-new-principles-the-audience-has-a-point-of-view-that-no/) [David Copperfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-copperfield/) > [You have to be closer to religious origins -- the generation of the 20's was truly secular in that it still knew its theology…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-douglas/you-have-to-be-closer-to-religious-origins-the-generation-of-the-20-s/) [Ann Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-douglas/) > [It's a truly disgusting idea that the creator of the universe - capable of inventing the laws of physics and designing the evolutionary process…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/it-s-a-truly-disgusting-idea-that-the-creator-of-the-universe-capable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Some theists, observing that all 'effects' need a cause, assert that God is a cause but not an effect. But no one has ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-barker/some-theists-observing-that-all-effects-need-a-cause-assert-that-god/) [Dan Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-barker/) > [Western doctors are like poor plumbers. They treat a splashing tub by cleaning up the water. These plumbers are extremely apt at drying up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-parsons-burkitt/western-doctors-are-like-poor-plumbers-they-treat-a-splashing-tub-by/) [Denis Parsons Burkitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-parsons-burkitt/) > [I started inventing things, and then I couldn't stop, like beavers, which I know about. People think they cut down trees so they can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-started-inventing-things-and-then-i-couldn-t-stop-like-beavers/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [As I see it, whoever's doing the inventing is also doing most of the learning - and probably having most of the fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitchel-resnick/as-i-see-it-whoever-s-doing-the-inventing-is-also-doing-most-of-the/) [Mitchel Resnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitchel-resnick/) > [“To those who hadn't been around Violet long, nothing would have seemed unusual, but those who knew her well knew that when she tied…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lemony-snicket/to-those-who-hadn-t-been-around-violet-long-nothing-would-have-seemed/) [Lemony Snicket](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lemony-snicket/) [Browse all 328 Inventing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“INVENTING A WRITING system from scratch must have been incomparably more difficult than borrowing and adapting one. 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