--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The civilization of the twentieth century…" description: "\"The civilization of the twentieth century cannot be universal except by being a dynamic synthesis of all the cultural values of all civilizations. It w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/leopold-sedar-senghor-46955_century_the-civilization-of-the-twentieth-centur_936997.jpg" --- # The civilization of the twentieth century cannot be… ![“The civilization of the twentieth century cannot be universal except by being a dynamic synthesis of all the cultural values of all civilizations. It will be monstrous unless it is seasoned with the salt of negri-tude, for it will be without the savor of humanity.” quote by Leopold Sedar Senghor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/leopold-sedar-senghor-46955_century_the-civilization-of-the-twentieth-centur_936997.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/leopold-sedar-senghor-46955_century_the-civilization-of-the-twentieth-centur_936997.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/leopold-sedar-senghor-46955_century_the-civilization-of-the-twentieth-centur_936997.jpg) > “The civilization of the twentieth century cannot be universal except by being a dynamic synthesis of all the cultural values of all civilizations. It will be monstrous unless it is seasoned with the salt of negri-tude, for it will be without the savor of humanity.” [Leopold Sedar Senghor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-sedar-senghor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A truly global civilization must blend diverse cultural values, tempered by critical reflection, to retain humanity. **In simple terms:** World unity needs cultural mix and critical balance. Key Takeaway Blend cultures, keep humanity. Themes culture unity humanity diversity balance Mood thoughtful optimistic Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - international policy - education curricula - multicultural workplaces - artistic collaborations Key Concepts pluralism critical reflection globalization Questions to Reflect On - How can we ensure all voices are heard? - What risks arise when synthesis ignores dissent? A Different Perspective May overlook power imbalances between cultures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Civilization Twentieth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization-twentieth-1571854/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Monstrous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monstrous/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Salt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/salt/) [Synthesis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/synthesis/) [Twentieth century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/twentieth-century/) [Unity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unity/) [Universal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universal/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Values Civilizations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values-civilizations-1571855/) ## Related quotes > [The monstrous evils of the twentieth century have shown us that the greediest money grubbers are gentle doves compared with money-hating wolves like Lenin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-monstrous-evils-of-the-twentieth-century-have-shown-us-that-the/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Can the synthesis of man and machine ever be stable, or will the purely organic component become such a hindrance that it has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/can-the-synthesis-of-man-and-machine-ever-be-stable-or-will-the/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [I had always insisted that a good education was a synthesis of book learning and involvement in social action, that each enriched the other.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-had-always-insisted-that-a-good-education-was-a-synthesis-of-book/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [The Epistle to the Romans is an extremely important synthesis of the whole theology of St. Paul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-kung/the-epistle-to-the-romans-is-an-extremely-important-synthesis-of-the/) [Hans Kung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-kung/) > [I don't think that anything of any consequence is known a priori: all our knowledge is built up by modifying the lore passed on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-kitcher/i-don-t-think-that-anything-of-any-consequence-is-known-a-priori-all/) [Philip Kitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-kitcher/) > [The growing child must derive a vitalizing sense of reality from the awareness that his individual way of mastering experience (his ego synthesis) is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-erikson/the-growing-child-must-derive-a-vitalizing-sense-of-reality-from-the/) [Erik Erikson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-erikson/) > [We are the higher synthesis of the union of the archetypal Mother and Father. As we recognize the divinity within ourselves, we see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anodea-judith/we-are-the-higher-synthesis-of-the-union-of-the-archetypal-mother-and/) [Anodea Judith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anodea-judith/) > [Mere change is not growth. Growth is the synthesis of change and continuity, and where there is no continuity there is no growth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/mere-change-is-not-growth-growth-is-the-synthesis-of-change-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Woes and wonders of Power, that tonic hell, synthesis of poison and panacea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/woes-and-wonders-of-power-that-tonic-hell-synthesis-of-poison-and/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [Poetry, I'm returning to it, never leaves me. It's my genre completely. In poetry I contemplate myself exuberantly. It's my unique strength. Force of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-brossard/poetry-i-m-returning-to-it-never-leaves-me-it-s-my-genre-completely/) [Nicole Brossard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-brossard/) > [Every isolated passion, is, in isolation, insane; sanity may be defined as synthesis of insanities. Every dominant passion generates a dominant fear, the fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/every-isolated-passion-is-in-isolation-insane-sanity-may-be-defined/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [As for mathematicians themselves: don't expect too much help. Most of them are too far removed in their ivory towers to take up such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/apostolos-doxiadis/as-for-mathematicians-themselves-don-t-expect-too-much-help-most-of/) [Apostolos Doxiadis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/apostolos-doxiadis/) > [The idea of freedom can never be disassociated from real Prussia. The real Prussian spirit means a synthesis between restraint and freedom, between voluntary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-von-tresckow/the-idea-of-freedom-can-never-be-disassociated-from-real-prussia-the/) [Henning von Tresckow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-von-tresckow/) > [A popular cliche in philosophy says that science is pure analysis or reductionism, like taking the rainbow to pieces; and art is pure synthesis,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/a-popular-cliche-in-philosophy-says-that-science-is-pure-analysis-or/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [Really Love itself is the extract of the whole Knowledge, it is written that in last synthesis the Wisdom can be reduced into Love,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samael-aun-weor/really-love-itself-is-the-extract-of-the-whole-knowledge-it-is/) [Samael Aun Weor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samael-aun-weor/) ## More by Leopold Sedar Senghor > [ The \[priest\] was really my teacher, because I reacted against the things he told me. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-sedar-senghor/the-priest-was-really-my-teacher-because-i-reacted-against-the-things/) [Leopold Sedar Senghor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-sedar-senghor/) > [Let us listen to the voices of our Forebears ... In the smoky cabin, souls that wish us well are murmuring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-sedar-senghor/let-us-listen-to-the-voices-of-our-forebears-in-the-smoky-cabin-souls/) [Leopold Sedar Senghor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-sedar-senghor/) > [The equilibrium you admire in me is an unstable one, difficult to maintain. My inner life was split early between the call of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-sedar-senghor/the-equilibrium-you-admire-in-me-is-an-unstable-one-difficult-to/) [Leopold Sedar Senghor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-sedar-senghor/) > [What if this were Hell, this absence of sleep, this poet's desert, this pain of living, this dying of not dying, this anguish of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-sedar-senghor/what-if-this-were-hell-this-absence-of-sleep-this-poet-s-desert-this/) [Leopold Sedar Senghor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-sedar-senghor/) > [“New York! I say New York, let black blood flow into your blood. Let it wash the rust from your steel joints, like an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-sedar-senghor/new-york-i-say-new-york-let-black-blood-flow-into-your-blood-let-it/) [Léopold Sédar Senghor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-sedar-senghor/) > [I have always taken care to put an idea or emotion behind my words. I have made it a habit to be suspicious of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-sedar-senghor/i-have-always-taken-care-to-put-an-idea-or-emotion-behind-my-words-i/) [Leopold Sedar Senghor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-sedar-senghor/) > [Art is animated by invisible forces that rule the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-sedar-senghor/art-is-animated-by-invisible-forces-that-rule-the-universe/) [Leopold Sedar Senghor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-sedar-senghor/) [Explore all 8 Leopold Sedar Senghor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-sedar-senghor/) ## More Century quotes > [I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-always-that-i-am-an-outsider-a-stranger-in-this-century-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. It might be two seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/talented-people-can-predict-with-great-accuracy-what-s-about-to/) [Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/) [Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/) > [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/) [Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 5,406 Century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The civilization of the twentieth century cannot be universal except by being a dynamic synthesis of all the cultural values of all civilizations. It will be monstrous unless it is seasoned with the salt of negri-tude, for it will be without the savor of humanity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leopold Sedar Senghor" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-sedar-senghor/the-civilization-of-the-twentieth-century-cannot-be-universal-except/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-sedar-senghor/the-civilization-of-the-twentieth-century-cannot-be-universal-except/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/leopold-sedar-senghor-46955_century_the-civilization-of-the-twentieth-centur_936997.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/leopold-sedar-senghor-46955_century_the-civilization-of-the-twentieth-centur_936997.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd9/leopold-sedar-senghor-46955_century_the-civilization-of-the-twentieth-centur_936997.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The civilization of the twentieth century cannot be universal except by being a dynamic synthesis of all the…” — Leopold Sedar Senghor", "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": "Leopold Sedar Senghor", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leopold-sedar-senghor/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The civilization of the twentieth century...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-sedar-senghor/the-civilization-of-the-twentieth-century-cannot-be-universal-except/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leopold-sedar-senghor/the-civilization-of-the-twentieth-century-cannot-be-universal-except/#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 } } ] } ```