--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An undesirable society, in other words…" description: "\"An undesirable society, in other words, is one which internally and externally sets up barriers to free intercourse and communication of experience.\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/john-dewey-545_barriers_an-undesirable-society-in-other-words-is_811769.png" --- # An undesirable society, in other words, is one which… ![“An undesirable society, in other words, is one which internally and externally sets up barriers to free intercourse and communication of experience.” quote by John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/john-dewey-545_barriers_an-undesirable-society-in-other-words-is_811769.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/john-dewey-545_barriers_an-undesirable-society-in-other-words-is_811769.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/john-dewey-545_barriers_an-undesirable-society-in-other-words-is_811769.png) > “An undesirable society, in other words, is one which internally and externally sets up barriers to free intercourse and communication of experience.” [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A society that blocks free exchange of ideas and experiences is undesirable. **In simple terms:** Barriers to open communication harm society. Key Takeaway Promote open dialogue. Themes freedom of speech social barriers communication Mood thoughtful concerned Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - political debate - academic discourse - community forums - media censorship Key Concepts democracy public sphere Questions to Reflect On - What barriers exist in your community? - How can we balance openness with safety? A Different Perspective Some restrictions protect privacy and security. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Barriers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barriers/) [Barriers Free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barriers-free-267093/) [Communication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/communication/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Free Intercourse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-intercourse-267092/) [Intercourse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intercourse/) [Undesirable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undesirable/) [Undesirable Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/undesirable-society-267091/) ## Related quotes > [Anyone in a position to overcome barriers to free thought and communication should do so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/anyone-in-a-position-to-overcome-barriers-to-free-thought-and/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Even the alleged benefits of war, so far as more than alleged, spring from the fact that conflict of peoples at least enforces intercourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/even-the-alleged-benefits-of-war-so-far-as-more-than-alleged-spring/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [As formal teaching and training grow in extent, there is the danger of creating an undesirable split between the experience gained in more direct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/as-formal-teaching-and-training-grow-in-extent-there-is-the-danger-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Selection aims not only at simplifying but at weeding out what is undesirable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/selection-aims-not-only-at-simplifying-but-at-weeding-out-what-is/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The problem is to extract the desirable traits of forms of community life which actually exist, and employ them to criticize undesirable features and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-problem-is-to-extract-the-desirable-traits-of-forms-of-community/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Written symbols are even more artificial or conventional than spoken; they cannot be picked up in accidental intercourse with others. 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We’re not in the wrong bodies. We’re not inadequate. We’re not lesser. We’re not unwanted. We’re not fraudulent. We’re not undesirable.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnostic-zetetic/we-re-not-broken-we-re-not-in-the-wrong-bodies-we-re-not-inadequate/) [Agnostic Zetetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnostic-zetetic/) > [Once you understand the power of stimulus control, you can use it to your advantage by changing the stimuli in your environment and avoiding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/once-you-understand-the-power-of-stimulus-control-you-can-use-it-to/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [We have a fear of facing ourselves. That is the obstacle. Experiencing the innermost core of our existence is very embarrassing to a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/we-have-a-fear-of-facing-ourselves-that-is-the-obstacle-experiencing/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) ## More by John Dewey > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“Empirically, things are poignant, tragic, beautiful, humorous, settled, disturbed, comfortable, annoying, barren, harsh, consoling, splendid, fearful; are such immediately and in their own right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/empirically-things-are-poignant-tragic-beautiful-humorous-settled/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Experiences in order to be educative must lead out into an expanding world of subject matter, a subject matter of facts or information and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/experiences-in-order-to-be-educative-must-lead-out-into-an-expanding/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [A tribe, let us say, is warlike. 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The notion that some subjects and methods and that acquaintance with certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/there-is-no-such-thing-as-educational-value-in-the-abstract-the/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/men-live-in-a-community-in-virtue-of-the-things-which-they-have-in/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [We can have facts without thinking but we cannot have thinking without facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/we-can-have-facts-without-thinking-but-we-cannot-have-thinking/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [But progress in knowledge has made us aware of the superficiality of Plato's lumping of individuals and their original powers into a few sharply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/but-progress-in-knowledge-has-made-us-aware-of-the-superficiality-of/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Even the alleged benefits of war, so far as more than alleged, spring from the fact that conflict of peoples at least enforces intercourse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/even-the-alleged-benefits-of-war-so-far-as-more-than-alleged-spring/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [“When the organization called soul is free, moving and operative, initial as well as terminal, it is spirit. Qualities are both static, substantial, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/when-the-organization-called-soul-is-free-moving-and-operative/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Since in reality there is nothing to which growth is relative save more growth, there is nothing to which education is subordinate save more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/since-in-reality-there-is-nothing-to-which-growth-is-relative-save/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [Creative thinking will improve as we relate the new fact to the old and all facts to each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/creative-thinking-will-improve-as-we-relate-the-new-fact-to-the-old/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) [Explore all 486 John Dewey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) ## More Barriers quotes > [Your aunt and uncle will be proud, though, won't they?" said Hermione as they got off the train and joined the crowd thronging toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/your-aunt-and-uncle-will-be-proud-though-won-t-they-said-hermione-as/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The gear you can't afford is not the barrier keeping you from success. Gear has very little to do with photography.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chase-jarvis/the-gear-you-can-t-afford-is-not-the-barrier-keeping-you-from-success/) [Chase Jarvis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chase-jarvis/) > [All of the barriers to innovation in the energy sector are arguments for a big commitment to public investment. Only the public sector can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nordhaus/all-of-the-barriers-to-innovation-in-the-energy-sector-are-arguments/) [Ted Nordhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nordhaus/) > [The "health, education, and welfare" section of government is another boondoggle. First we manufacture indigent and superfluous people by legal monopolies in land, money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurance-labadie/the-health-education-and-welfare-section-of-government-is-another/) [Laurance Labadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurance-labadie/) > [Security is a component of everyday life that one spending time in Washington, D.C., gets accustomed to. Metal detectors, police vehicle barriers and heavily-armed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-crapo/security-is-a-component-of-everyday-life-that-one-spending-time-in/) [Mike Crapo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-crapo/) > [The biggest obstacles to our progress exist within our own lives in the form of cowardice and the tendency to give up. Breaking through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senora-roy/the-biggest-obstacles-to-our-progress-exist-within-our-own-lives-in/) [Senora Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senora-roy/) > [I feel that there are a few things in the world without cultural barriers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-chan/i-feel-that-there-are-a-few-things-in-the-world-without-cultural/) [Jackie Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-chan/) > [English literature is a glorious inheritance which is open to all - there are no barriers, no coupons, and no restrictions. In the English…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/english-literature-is-a-glorious-inheritance-which-is-open-to-all/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Friendship embraces innumerable ends; turn where you will it is ever at your side; no barrier shuts it out; it is never untimely and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/friendship-embraces-innumerable-ends-turn-where-you-will-it-is-ever/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [I've cosponsored legislation to establish a lend-lease program to simplify bureaucratic barriers and allow a speedier transfer of U.S. military equipment to Ukraine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-waltz/i-ve-cosponsored-legislation-to-establish-a-lend-lease-program-to/) [Michael Waltz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-waltz/) > [Don't be afraid of what you want. This is your time. The barriers are down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-freeman/don-t-be-afraid-of-what-you-want-this-is-your-time-the-barriers-are/) [Morgan Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-freeman/) > [Fear is the single biggest barrier to creativity. Unless we're brave enough to risk looking foolish, we'll inevitably find ourselves sticking to the status…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-linkner/fear-is-the-single-biggest-barrier-to-creativity-unless-we-re-brave/) [Josh Linkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-linkner/) > [He looked at my lips. I suddenly found myself wanting to lick his. 'Yes,' he replied, his eyes going molten. My breath caught in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-macalister/he-looked-at-my-lips-i-suddenly-found-myself-wanting-to-lick-his-yes/) [Katie MacAlister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-macalister/) > [What do you have to surrender? A drop has to dissolve into the ocean to become the ocean. 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Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-w-johnson/) [Browse all 1,191 Barriers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barriers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "An undesirable society, in other words, is one which internally and externally sets up barriers to free intercourse and communication of experience.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Dewey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/an-undesirable-society-in-other-words-is-one-which-internally-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Barriers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/an-undesirable-society-in-other-words-is-one-which-internally-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/john-dewey-545_barriers_an-undesirable-society-in-other-words-is_811769.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/john-dewey-545_barriers_an-undesirable-society-in-other-words-is_811769.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b74/john-dewey-545_barriers_an-undesirable-society-in-other-words-is_811769.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An undesirable society, in other words, is one which internally and externally sets up barriers to free…” — John Dewey", "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": "John Dewey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "An undesirable society, in other words,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/an-undesirable-society-in-other-words-is-one-which-internally-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/an-undesirable-society-in-other-words-is-one-which-internally-and/#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 } } ] } ```