--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Given this appalling social climate, the…" description: "\"“Given this appalling social climate, the new Library of Alexandria, built at a cost of $230 million in an attempt to revive its fabled ancient predece..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c3/john-r-bradley-7263_alexandria_given-this-appalling-social-climate-the_567028.jpg" --- # Given this appalling social climate, the new Library of… ![“Given this appalling social climate, the new Library of Alexandria, built at a cost of $230 million in an attempt to revive its fabled ancient predecessor (and resembling nothing so much as a giant satellite dish), has unsurprisingly failed to ignite a renaissance of scholarly acumen.” quote by John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c3/john-r-bradley-7263_alexandria_given-this-appalling-social-climate-the_567028.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c3/john-r-bradley-7263_alexandria_given-this-appalling-social-climate-the_567028.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4c3/john-r-bradley-7263_alexandria_given-this-appalling-social-climate-the_567028.jpg) > ““Given this appalling social climate, the new Library of Alexandria, built at a cost of $230 million in an attempt to revive its fabled ancient predecessor (and resembling nothing so much as a giant satellite dish), has unsurprisingly failed to ignite a renaissance of scholarly acumen.”” [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The costly new Library failed to spark a scholarly revival, resembling a massive satellite dish rather than a hub of learning. **In simple terms:** The library was expensive but didn’t revive scholarship. Key Takeaway Invest in programs that truly engage scholars. Themes cultural institutions investment scholarship Mood critical analytical Type editorial commentary When to use this quote - urban planning - academic funding - community outreach - digital archives Key Concepts public policy education reform Questions to Reflect On - How can libraries better serve modern scholars? - What alternatives could foster a renaissance? A Different Perspective High spending alone doesn’t guarantee cultural impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alexandria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alexandria/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“Alexandria was "the single place on earth where all the knowledge in the entire world was gathered together -- every great play and poem,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-rogers/alexandria-was-the-single-place-on-earth-where-all-the-knowledge-in/) [Adam Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-rogers/) > [“But only at Antquarium did I feel a sense of what the library at Alexandria might have been: an accumulation of evidence and suggestions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-halloran/but-only-at-antquarium-did-i-feel-a-sense-of-what-the-library-at/) Amy Halloran > [When I think of the library of Alexandria and of the fact that, although it burnt down, people continue to sort the letters of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kluge/when-i-think-of-the-library-of-alexandria-and-of-the-fact-that/) [Alexander Kluge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kluge/) > [The opportunity before all of us is living up to the dream of the Library of Alexandria and then taking it a step further…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brewster-kahle/the-opportunity-before-all-of-us-is-living-up-to-the-dream-of-the/) [Brewster Kahle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brewster-kahle/) > [We can roam the bloated stacks of the Library of Alexandria, where all imagination and knowledge are assembled; we can recognize in its destruction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/we-can-roam-the-bloated-stacks-of-the-library-of-alexandria-where-all/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [“All was not lost when the Library at Alexandria was burned”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-wallace-maguire/all-was-not-lost-when-the-library-at-alexandria-was-burned/) Mark Wallace Maguire > [The valuable library of Alexandria was pillaged or destroyed; and near twenty years afterwards, the appearance of the empty shelves excited the regret and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-valuable-library-of-alexandria-was-pillaged-or-destroyed-and-near/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [To accept the story of the Arab destruction of the library of Alexandria, one must explain how it is that so dramatic an event…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lewis/to-accept-the-story-of-the-arab-destruction-of-the-library-of/) [Bernard Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lewis/) > [“Congratulations on the new library, because it isn't just a library. It is a space ship that will take you to the farthest reaches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/congratulations-on-the-new-library-because-it-isn-t-just-a-library-it/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [Congratulations on the new library, because it isn't just a library. It is a space ship that will take you to the farthest reaches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/congratulations-on-the-new-library-because-it-isn-t-just-a-library-it-2/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“In any event, as a hint of what is now in store for Egypt, consider the city of Alexandria—for decades the Muslim Brotherhood’s stronghold.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/in-any-event-as-a-hint-of-what-is-now-in-store-for-egypt-consider-the/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“Now we can travel with more books stored in our telephones than the ancient Egyptians kept in their vast library at Alexandria.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-aquilina/now-we-can-travel-with-more-books-stored-in-our-telephones-than-the/) [Mike Aquilina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-aquilina/) > [“THOMASINA: But then the Egyptian noodle made carnal embrace with the enemy who burned the great library of Alexandria without so much as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/thomasina-but-then-the-egyptian-noodle-made-carnal-embrace-with-the/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“Well, when it became obvious that magic was going to wreck the computer networks, people tried to preserve portions of the Internet. They took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/well-when-it-became-obvious-that-magic-was-going-to-wreck-the/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [“The Library of Alexandria?" I ask. "Didn't that burn down?" Mrs Philipoulus scoffs. "Damn fool Hypatia. Athena tried to convince her to install a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tera-lynn-childs/the-library-of-alexandria-i-ask-didn-t-that-burn-down-mrs-philipoulus/) [Tera Lynn Childs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tera-lynn-childs/) ## More by John R. Bradley > [“But if Nasser's gift to the Egyptians was their sense of pride, Mubarak's curse is to have created a cultural climate where the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/but-if-nasser-s-gift-to-the-egyptians-was-their-sense-of-pride/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“However, since the Syrian regime is even less transparent than the NGOs, we have no way of knowing that, either.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/however-since-the-syrian-regime-is-even-less-transparent-than-the/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“After the attack, it was again the image of the country, rather than the well-being of those who had been caught up in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/after-the-attack-it-was-again-the-image-of-the-country-rather-than/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“Because Islam is so tightly bound up with Acehnese exceptionalism, it has since the introduction of Islamic law become the territory’s version of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/because-islam-is-so-tightly-bound-up-with-acehnese-exceptionalism-it/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“After all, there is in more stable, developed countries like the United States and Britain a quantifiably more vicious culture of child abuse. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/after-all-there-is-in-more-stable-developed-countries-like-the-united/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“After that fateful day of July 23, 1952, the "Paris Along the Nile," as Cairo was lovingly renamed by the foreigners who flocked to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/after-that-fateful-day-of-july-23-1952-the-paris-along-the-nile-as/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“Mansour earned the nickname "Al-Turbiny," from the air-conditioned express trains linking Cairo with Egypt's second city Alexandria, whose roofs were the favored location for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/mansour-earned-the-nickname-al-turbiny-from-the-air-conditioned/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“The situation is complicated, though, in a country like Tunisia, where sudden and dramatic change in favor of Western-style democracy at this juncture does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/the-situation-is-complicated-though-in-a-country-like-tunisia-where/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“Nothing gives your average bored Sunni bigot surfing the web more instant gratification than zooming in on sigeh to condemn the Shia as debauched…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/nothing-gives-your-average-bored-sunni-bigot-surfing-the-web-more/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“despite having a thriving gay prostitution scene, Damascus is unlike just about every other Middle Eastern city I have visited in not having any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/despite-having-a-thriving-gay-prostitution-scene-damascus-is-unlike/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“The Arab Spring has been a dismal failure. All indications are that what comes next will be significantly worse than what existed before, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/the-arab-spring-has-been-a-dismal-failure-all-indications-are-that/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“An investigative report by the BBC in July 2007 found that thousands of young Egyptian men try to enter Europe illegally every year. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/an-investigative-report-by-the-bbc-in-july-2007-found-that-thousands/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“A secularist but not an atheist, he used the example of the Prophet, who according to tradition did not fast in Ramadan during wartime,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/a-secularist-but-not-an-atheist-he-used-the-example-of-the-prophet/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“Malaysia, then, offers an example of what happens when socalled moderate Islamists are appeased by the liberal elite. They provide cover for their more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/malaysia-then-offers-an-example-of-what-happens-when-socalled/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) > [“Saudi Arabia’s media and schools spew constant anti-Semitic venom, but the Al-Saud regime loathes Tehran much more than Tel Aviv. In Egypt, for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-r-bradley/saudi-arabia-s-media-and-schools-spew-constant-anti-semitic-venom-but/) [John R. Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) [Explore all 92 John R. Bradley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-r-bradley/) ## More Alexandria quotes > [Constantinople was the principal seat and fortress of Arianism; and, in a long interval of forty years, the faith of the princes and prelates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/constantinople-was-the-principal-seat-and-fortress-of-arianism-and-in/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [I was held in the Mazra Tora Prison for my role as leader of the pan-Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir in Alexandria.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maajid-nawaz/i-was-held-in-the-mazra-tora-prison-for-my-role-as-leader-of-the-pan/) [Maajid Nawaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maajid-nawaz/) > [“Alexandria was "the single place on earth where all the knowledge in the entire world was gathered together -- every great play and poem,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-rogers/alexandria-was-the-single-place-on-earth-where-all-the-knowledge-in/) [Adam Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-rogers/) > [To accept the story of the Arab destruction of the library of Alexandria, one must explain how it is that so dramatic an event…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lewis/to-accept-the-story-of-the-arab-destruction-of-the-library-of/) [Bernard Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lewis/) > [Even though I'm on my own, I know I'm not alone, because I know there's someone somewhere, praying that I make it home. Someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/even-though-i-m-on-my-own-i-know-i-m-not-alone-because-i-know-there-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Philo of Alexandria,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-lewis-holmes/philo-of-alexandria/) Sara Lewis Holmes > [“I'd be supper-pissed in the afterlife if I died a virgin in this crap hole.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-l-armentrout/i-d-be-supper-pissed-in-the-afterlife-if-i-died-a-virgin-in-this-crap/) [Jennifer L. Armentrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-l-armentrout/) > [“They say that Caliph Omar, when consulted about what had to be done with the library of Alexandria, answered as follows: 'If the books…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-jacques-rousseau/they-say-that-caliph-omar-when-consulted-about-what-had-to-be-done/) [Jean-Jacques Rousseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-jacques-rousseau/) > [The George Washington Masonic National Memorial is a fitting tribute to so great a man and Mason. Its message should be as prominent in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-clausen/the-george-washington-masonic-national-memorial-is-a-fitting-tribute/) [Henry Clausen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-clausen/) > [At that time the archiepiscopal throne of Alexandria was filled by Theophilus, the perpetual enemy of peace and virtue; a bold, bad man, whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/at-that-time-the-archiepiscopal-throne-of-alexandria-was-filled-by/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“The oranges were more plentiful than usual that year. They glowed in their arbours of burnished green leaf like lanterns, flickering up there among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-durrell/the-oranges-were-more-plentiful-than-usual-that-year-they-glowed-in/) [Lawrence Durrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-durrell/) > [The valuable library of Alexandria was pillaged or destroyed; and near twenty years afterwards, the appearance of the empty shelves excited the regret and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-valuable-library-of-alexandria-was-pillaged-or-destroyed-and-near/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“All was not lost when the Library at Alexandria was burned”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-wallace-maguire/all-was-not-lost-when-the-library-at-alexandria-was-burned/) Mark Wallace Maguire > [“ Euclid 's Elements has been for nearly twenty-two centuries the encouragement and guide of that scientific thought which is one thing with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-kingdon-clifford/euclid-s-elements-has-been-for-nearly-twenty-two-centuries-the/) [William Kingdon Clifford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-kingdon-clifford/) > [I always enjoyed playing around Washington, because we always have a good crowd. I've never had a bad crowd in this vicinity from here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-stanley/i-always-enjoyed-playing-around-washington-because-we-always-have-a/) [Ralph Stanley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-stanley/) [Browse all 66 Alexandria quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alexandria/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Given this appalling social climate, the new Library of Alexandria, built at a cost of $230 million in an attempt to revive its fabled ancient predecessor (and resembling nothing so much as a giant satellite dish), has unsurprisingly failed to ignite a renaissance of scholarly acumen.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John R. 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