--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For nature is good, an man is 'by nature'…" description: "\"For nature is good, an man is 'by nature' good; it is civilization which ruins him\" — Jostein Gaarder" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c0/jostein-gaarder-676_civilization_for-nature-is-good-an-man-is-by-nature-g_965506.png" --- # For nature is good, an man is 'by nature' good; it is… ![“For nature is good, an man is 'by nature' good; it is civilization which ruins him” quote by Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c0/jostein-gaarder-676_civilization_for-nature-is-good-an-man-is-by-nature-g_965506.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c0/jostein-gaarder-676_civilization_for-nature-is-good-an-man-is-by-nature-g_965506.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c0/jostein-gaarder-676_civilization_for-nature-is-good-an-man-is-by-nature-g_965506.png) > “For nature is good, an man is 'by nature' good; it is civilization which ruins him” [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Civilization corrupts innate human goodness, which is natural and pure. **In simple terms:** Society spoils natural goodness. Key Takeaway Seek simplicity, value nature. Themes nature humanity civilization morality Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - urban living - educational reform - environmental activism - personal mindfulness Key Concepts philosophy ethics human nature Questions to Reflect On - How does modern life affect your innate values? - Can you find goodness in everyday interactions? A Different Perspective Human nature can adapt positively despite societal pressures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) ## Related quotes > [“...the delicate arrangements and systems that made life on the outside so easy; the massive industries balanced on knife-edge adjustments; the handful of men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mulvihill/the-delicate-arrangements-and-systems-that-made-life-on-the-outside/) William Mulvihill > [“Also, a large swath of our intellectual culture is loath to admit that there could be anything good about civilization, modernity, and Western society.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/also-a-large-swath-of-our-intellectual-culture-is-loath-to-admit-that/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [A good civilization gives the greatest possible scope to the common passions and makes them intelligible among the great number of people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meridel-le-sueur/a-good-civilization-gives-the-greatest-possible-scope-to-the-common/) [Meridel Le Sueur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meridel-le-sueur/) > [I truly believe the way to build a good civilization is to do it on Judaeo-Christian values because whenever you do it on Judaeo-Christian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beneil-dariush/i-truly-believe-the-way-to-build-a-good-civilization-is-to-do-it-on/) [Beneil Dariush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beneil-dariush/) > [“That’s what nature teaches you: the inescapable cycle of birth, life, death. We are part of it, like the plants, and the animals. Nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-rthe-binkert/that-s-what-nature-teaches-you-the-inescapable-cycle-of-birth-life/) [Dörthe Binkert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-rthe-binkert/) > [Nature, which alone is good, is wholly familiar and common.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/nature-which-alone-is-good-is-wholly-familiar-and-common/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [For all that faire is, is by nature good;That is a signe to know the gentle blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-spenser/for-all-that-faire-is-is-by-nature-good-that-is-a-signe-to-know-the/) [Edmund Spenser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-spenser/) > [I see any production of any nature being good for the development of the whole industry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-macbeth/i-see-any-production-of-any-nature-being-good-for-the-development-of/) [Ann Macbeth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-macbeth/) > [“Historically, nature has been very good at surprising us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-carroll/historically-nature-has-been-very-good-at-surprising-us/) [Sean Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-carroll/) > [Our buddha nature is as good as any buddha’s buddha nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sogyal-rinpoche/our-buddha-nature-is-as-good-as-any-buddha-s-buddha-nature/) [Sogyal Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sogyal-rinpoche/) > [That nature only is good when it shall not do unto another whatever is not good for its own self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-steichen/that-nature-only-is-good-when-it-shall-not-do-unto-another-whatever/) [Edward Steichen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-steichen/) > [“People aren’t good by nature. They’re good by nurture.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kody-boye/people-aren-t-good-by-nature-they-re-good-by-nurture/) Kody Boye > [Everything that depends on the action of nature is by nature as good as it can be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/everything-that-depends-on-the-action-of-nature-is-by-nature-as-good/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Nature is a good name for an effect whose cause is God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper/nature-is-a-good-name-for-an-effect-whose-cause-is-god/) [William Cowper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper/) > [Protecting our wild and wonderful landscape is good for nature, good for tourism and good for West Virginia's economy and quality of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-justice/protecting-our-wild-and-wonderful-landscape-is-good-for-nature-good/) [Jim Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-justice/) ## More by Jostein Gaarder > [“I no longer feel the need to see and sense more than I've already experienced. I just want so desperately to hang on what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/i-no-longer-feel-the-need-to-see-and-sense-more-than-i-ve-already/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [The most subversive people are those who ask questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/the-most-subversive-people-are-those-who-ask-questions/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [The sophists were as a rule men who had traveled widely and seen different forms of government. Both conventions and local laws in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/the-sophists-were-as-a-rule-men-who-had-traveled-widely-and-seen/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [Where did the world come from? The question has an answer, even though I cannot get to it. It is a good question. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/where-did-the-world-come-from-the-question-has-an-answer-even-though/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [“As soon as she concentrated on being alive now, the thought of dying also came into her mind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/as-soon-as-she-concentrated-on-being-alive-now-the-thought-of-dying/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [“Po haljini sam mogao da vidim kako njeno telo diše, jer se haljina dizala i spuštala, dizala i spuštala, skoro kao da morski talasi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/po-haljini-sam-mogao-da-vidim-kako-njeno-telo-di-e-jer-se-haljina/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [Since the Renaissance, people have had to get used to living their life on a random planet in the vast galaxy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/since-the-renaissance-people-have-had-to-get-used-to-living-their/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [“without imagination, nothing really new will ever be created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/without-imagination-nothing-really-new-will-ever-be-created/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [“The German poet Goethe once said that "he who cannot draw on three thousand years is living from hand to mouth." I don't want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/the-german-poet-goethe-once-said-that-he-who-cannot-draw-on-three/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [“Sophie left the den and wandered about in the large garden. She tried to forget what she had learned at school, especially in science…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/sophie-left-the-den-and-wandered-about-in-the-large-garden-she-tried/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [...long before the child learns to talk properly-and long before it learns to think philosophically-the world will have become a habit. A pity, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/long-before-the-child-learns-to-talk-properly-and-long-before-it/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [“any one question can be more explosive than a thousand answers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/any-one-question-can-be-more-explosive-than-a-thousand-answers/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [“We can't own each other's past. The question is whether we have a future together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/we-can-t-own-each-other-s-past-the-question-is-whether-we-have-a/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [“Uno no muere en medio del quinto acto.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/uno-no-muere-en-medio-del-quinto-acto/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) > [“Wer das Schicksal durchschauen will, muss es überleben.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/wer-das-schicksal-durchschauen-will-muss-es-berleben/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) [Explore all 305 Jostein Gaarder quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) ## 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. 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