--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If, then, this civilization is to be…" description: "\"If, then, this civilization is to be saved, if it is not to be submerged by centuries of barbarism, but to secure the treasures ofits inheritance on ne..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a07/johan-huizinga-5595_barbarism_if-then-this-civilization-is-to-be-saved_343440.jpg" --- # If, then, this civilization is to be saved, if it is not… ![“If, then, this civilization is to be saved, if it is not to be submerged by centuries of barbarism, but to secure the treasures ofits inheritance on new and more stable foundations, there is indeed need for those now living fully to realize how far the decay has already progressed.” quote by Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a07/johan-huizinga-5595_barbarism_if-then-this-civilization-is-to-be-saved_343440.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a07/johan-huizinga-5595_barbarism_if-then-this-civilization-is-to-be-saved_343440.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a07/johan-huizinga-5595_barbarism_if-then-this-civilization-is-to-be-saved_343440.jpg) > “If, then, this civilization is to be saved, if it is not to be submerged by centuries of barbarism, but to secure the treasures ofits inheritance on new and more stable foundations, there is indeed need for those now living fully to realize how far the decay has already progressed.” [Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. To preserve civilization, current generations must recognize and address its deep decay, building stable foundations for the future. **In simple terms:** Recognize decay and build stable foundations. Key Takeaway Act now to prevent cultural decline. Themes history civilization decay preservation Mood reflective urgent Type historical inspirational When to use this quote - Education reform - policy development - community activism - heritage projects Key Concepts Cultural continuity social stability heritage protection Questions to Reflect On - What signs of decay are evident today? - How can societies rebuild stable foundations? A Different Perspective Complacency and resistance to change hinder progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Barbarism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarism/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Inheritance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inheritance/) [Living fully](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-fully/) [Treasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treasure/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [War of the worlds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war-of-the-worlds/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World war ii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-war-ii/) ## Related quotes > [“We have barely emerged from centuries of barbarism. It's not a surprise that there are shocking inequities in this world. 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Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [Opinion is a fitting thing but truth outlasts the sun - if then we cannot own them both, possess the oldest one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/opinion-is-a-fitting-thing-but-truth-outlasts-the-sun-if-then-we/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [If, then, the control of the people over the organs of their government be the measure of its republicanism, and I confess I know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/if-then-the-control-of-the-people-over-the-organs-of-their-government/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [If then, your world be such a baffling riddle, it is because you are that baffling riddle. And if your speech be such a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-naimy/if-then-your-world-be-such-a-baffling-riddle-it-is-because-you-are/) [Mikhail Naimy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-naimy/) > [“If-Then" is a structured logic of humans' thought, who have memories and imagination in their mind. If both don't exist, Then this quote has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/if-then-is-a-structured-logic-of-humans-thought-who-have-memories-and/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [If, then, there is some end of the things we do, which we desire for its own sake (everything else being desired for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/if-then-there-is-some-end-of-the-things-we-do-which-we-desire-for-its/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [If then, as we say, good craftsmen look to the mean as they work, and if virtue, like nature, is more accurate and better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/if-then-as-we-say-good-craftsmen-look-to-the-mean-as-they-work-and-if/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [There are, for example, so many kinds of tongues in this world; and none is without voice. If then I know not the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-the-apostle/there-are-for-example-so-many-kinds-of-tongues-in-this-world-and-none/) [Paul the Apostle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-the-apostle/) > [We are more often than not asked, for instance, to regard Israel and Palestine as in a conflict of this kind, a framing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/we-are-more-often-than-not-asked-for-instance-to-regard-israel-and/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [The typical imperative from biology is not "Thou shalt... ," but "If ... then ... else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-typical-imperative-from-biology-is-not-thou-shalt-but-if-then-else/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [It was a lie but he believed in telling lies to people. Truth telling and medicine just didn't go together except in dire emergencies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-puzo/it-was-a-lie-but-he-believed-in-telling-lies-to-people-truth-telling/) [Mario Puzo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-puzo/) > [It would take a civilization far more advanced than ours, unbelievably advanced, to begin to manipulate negative energy to create gateways to the past.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/it-would-take-a-civilization-far-more-advanced-than-ours-unbelievably/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-my-happiness-at-this-moment-consists-largely-in-reviewing-happy/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) ## More by Johan Huizinga > [Do you know anything that in all its innocence is more humiliating than the funny pages of a Sunday newspaper in America?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/do-you-know-anything-that-in-all-its-innocence-is-more-humiliating/) [Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) > [Physical nature lies at our feet shackled with a hundred chains. What of the control of human nature? Do not point to the triumphs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/physical-nature-lies-at-our-feet-shackled-with-a-hundred-chains-what/) [Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) > [Play: It is an an activity which proceeds within certain limits of time and space, in a visible order, according to rules freely accepted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/play-it-is-an-an-activity-which-proceeds-within-certain-limits-of/) [Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) > [You can deny, if you like, nearly all abstractions: justice, beauty, truth, goodness, mind, God. 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S a világban sokkal több az érzelem, mint az ész. Ami az életet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/a-b-lcsess-g-gy-ramlik-a-balgas-ghoz-mint-az-sz-az-rzelmekhez-s-a-vil/) [Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) > [We can't put up a protectionist dam on our own against the neo-liberal world market either. However, we can try, together with our European…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/we-can-t-put-up-a-protectionist-dam-on-our-own-against-the-neo/) [Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) > [The spirit of playful competition is, as a social impulse, older than culture itself and pervades all life like a veritable ferment. Ritual grew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/the-spirit-of-playful-competition-is-as-a-social-impulse-older-than/) [Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) > [The new knowledge has not yet settled in culture. It has not yet been integrated in a new cosmic conception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/the-new-knowledge-has-not-yet-settled-in-culture-it-has-not-yet-been/) [Johan Huizinga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) [Explore all 92 Johan Huizinga quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/) ## More Barbarism quotes > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Liberty is the condition of progress. Without Liberty, there remains only barbarism. Without Liberty, there can be no civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/liberty-is-the-condition-of-progress-without-liberty-there-remains/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [“Odd, don't you think? I have seen war, and invasions and riots. I have heard of massacres and brutalities beyond imagining, and I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-pears/odd-don-t-you-think-i-have-seen-war-and-invasions-and-riots-i-have/) [Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-pears/) > [Christianity has carried civilization along with it, whithersoever it has gone; and, as if to show that the latter does not depend on physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/christianity-has-carried-civilization-along-with-it-whithersoever-it/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [ \[Much\] as war attracts me and fascinates my mind with its tremendous situations, I feel more deeply every year . . . what vile… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/much-as-war-attracts-me-and-fascinates-my-mind-with-its-tremendous/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations. Man's capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/educational-exchange-can-turn-nations-into-people-contributing-as-no/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. The idea of indefinite progress in a right line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/human-history-like-all-great-movements-was-cyclical-and-returned-to/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [You think that a wall as solid as the earth separates civilization from barbarism. 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At every step the history of civilization teaches us how slight and superficial a structure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/magic-begins-in-superstition-and-ends-in-science-at-every-step-the/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) [Browse all 238 Barbarism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If, then, this civilization is to be saved, if it is not to be submerged by centuries of barbarism, but to secure the treasures ofits inheritance on new and more stable foundations, there is indeed need for those now living fully to realize how far the decay has already progressed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Johan Huizinga" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/if-then-this-civilization-is-to-be-saved-if-it-is-not-to-be-submerged/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Barbarism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/if-then-this-civilization-is-to-be-saved-if-it-is-not-to-be-submerged/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a07/johan-huizinga-5595_barbarism_if-then-this-civilization-is-to-be-saved_343440.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a07/johan-huizinga-5595_barbarism_if-then-this-civilization-is-to-be-saved_343440.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a07/johan-huizinga-5595_barbarism_if-then-this-civilization-is-to-be-saved_343440.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If, then, this civilization is to be saved, if it is not to be submerged by centuries of barbarism, but to…” — Johan Huizinga", "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": "Johan Huizinga", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johan-huizinga/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If, then, this civilization is to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/if-then-this-civilization-is-to-be-saved-if-it-is-not-to-be-submerged/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johan-huizinga/if-then-this-civilization-is-to-be-saved-if-it-is-not-to-be-submerged/#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 } } ] } ```