--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From the days of Sumerian clay tablets…" description: "\"“From the days of Sumerian clay tablets until now, humans have “published” at least 310 million books, 1.4 billion articles and essays, 180 million son..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/kevin-kelly-2418_tv-shows_from-the-days-of-sumerian-clay-tablets-u_172257.png" --- # From the days of Sumerian clay tablets until now, humans… ![“From the days of Sumerian clay tablets until now, humans have “published” at least 310 million books, 1.4 billion articles and essays, 180 million songs, 3.5 trillion images, 330,000 movies, 1 billion hours of videos, TV shows, and short films, and 60 trillion public web pages.” quote by Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/kevin-kelly-2418_tv-shows_from-the-days-of-sumerian-clay-tablets-u_172257.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/kevin-kelly-2418_tv-shows_from-the-days-of-sumerian-clay-tablets-u_172257.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/kevin-kelly-2418_tv-shows_from-the-days-of-sumerian-clay-tablets-u_172257.png) > ““From the days of Sumerian clay tablets until now, humans have “published” at least 310 million books, 1.4 billion articles and essays, 180 million songs, 3.5 trillion images, 330,000 movies, 1 billion hours of videos, TV shows, and short films, and 60 trillion public web pages.”” [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human output of media has exploded, showing exponential growth in content creation across formats. **In simple terms:** We now produce massive amounts of books, songs, images, videos, and web pages. Key Takeaway Recognize the scale and impact of digital media proliferation. Themes technology media information overload culture history Mood informative analytical Type technological observational When to use this quote - content creation - education - entertainment - research - archiving Key Concepts digital age exponential growth knowledge economy Questions to Reflect On - How can we curate valuable information? - What responsibilities do creators have? A Different Perspective The sheer volume can overwhelm and dilute quality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Tv shows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tv-shows/) ## Related quotes > [“A million books’ worth of theoretical knowledge couldn’t equal one direct experience of the self.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-delawar/a-million-books-worth-of-theoretical-knowledge-couldn-t-equal-one/) [Omar Delawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-delawar/) > [Hemingway hated me. I sold 200 million books, and he didn't. Of course most of mine sold for 25 cents, but still... you look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-spillane/hemingway-hated-me-i-sold-200-million-books-and-he-didn-t-of-course/) [Mickey Spillane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-spillane/) > [Seventy million books in America's libraries, but the one you want to read is always out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-lansing-masson/seventy-million-books-in-america-s-libraries-but-the-one-you-want-to/) [Thomas Lansing Masson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-lansing-masson/) > [“Currently, the Library of Congress houses eighteen million books. American publishers add another two hundred thousand titles to this stack each year. This means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-reinke/currently-the-library-of-congress-houses-eighteen-million-books/) [Tony Reinke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-reinke/) > [I sold a million books because I have a lot of fans, not because people hate me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-max/i-sold-a-million-books-because-i-have-a-lot-of-fans-not-because/) [Tucker Max](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-max/) > [There are a lot of people out there who will write books, in which everything turns out nicely and the bad guys lose, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/there-are-a-lot-of-people-out-there-who-will-write-books-in-which/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [“At a time when the continent’s total population was approximately 70 million, most of whom could neither read nor write, an estimated 20 million…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-goldstein/at-a-time-when-the-continent-s-total-population-was-approximately-70/) [Phyllis Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-goldstein/) > [I can't actually wrap my mind around it easily - I can't really visualize what 2 million books looks like... So I try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/i-can-t-actually-wrap-my-mind-around-it-easily-i-can-t-really/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [“She’d entered a city made entirely of leather and paper. Celaena put a hand against her heart. Escape routes be damned. “I’ve never seen—how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/she-d-entered-a-city-made-entirely-of-leather-and-paper-celaena-put-a/) [Sarah J. 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A million books?” Her heart leapt and danced, and she cracked a smile. “I’d die before I even got through half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/over-a-million-a-million-books-her-heart-leapt-and-danced-and-she/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [There are 20,000 million books I could have to read, but I can pick the ones and know that I'm learning something that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/there-are-20-000-million-books-i-could-have-to-read-but-i-can-pick/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“The 1920s was a great time for reading altogether—very possibly the peak decade for reading in American life. 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Trust, for instance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/when-copies-are-free-you-need-to-sell-things-that-cannot-be-copied/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [“Existence, it seems, is chiefly maintenance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/existence-it-seems-is-chiefly-maintenance/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [“We have no certainty we’ll contact extraterrestrial beings from one of the billion earthlike planets in the sky in the next 200 years, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/we-have-no-certainty-we-ll-contact-extraterrestrial-beings-from-one/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [Changing things from the top down works when things are stable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/changing-things-from-the-top-down-works-when-things-are-stable/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [It's generally much easier to kill an organization than to change it substantially.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/it-s-generally-much-easier-to-kill-an-organization-than-to-change-it/) [Kevin Kelly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/) > [The only organization capable of unprejudiced growth, or unguided learning, is a network. 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There was no talk or thought about doing a TV show or a movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-black/i-just-remember-the-early-days-of-tenacious-d-there-was-no-talk-or/) [Jack Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-black/) [Browse all 998 Tv shows quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tv-shows/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“From the days of Sumerian clay tablets until now, humans have “published” at least 310 million books, 1.4 billion articles and essays, 180 million songs, 3.5 trillion images, 330,000 movies, 1 billion hours of videos, TV shows, and short films, and 60 trillion public web pages.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kevin Kelly" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/from-the-days-of-sumerian-clay-tablets-until-now-humans-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Tv shows" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/from-the-days-of-sumerian-clay-tablets-until-now-humans-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/kevin-kelly-2418_tv-shows_from-the-days-of-sumerian-clay-tablets-u_172257.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/kevin-kelly-2418_tv-shows_from-the-days-of-sumerian-clay-tablets-u_172257.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6a/kevin-kelly-2418_tv-shows_from-the-days-of-sumerian-clay-tablets-u_172257.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“From the days of Sumerian clay tablets until now, humans have “published” at least 310 million books, 1.4…” — Kevin Kelly", "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": "Kevin Kelly", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-kelly/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“From the days of Sumerian clay...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/from-the-days-of-sumerian-clay-tablets-until-now-humans-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-kelly/from-the-days-of-sumerian-clay-tablets-until-now-humans-have/#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 } } ] } ```