--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But neither money nor machines can…" description: "\"But neither money nor machines can create. They shuttle tokens of energy, but they do not transform. A civilization based on them puts people out of to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/lewis-hyde-19548_civilization_but-neither-money-nor-machines-can-creat_1450673.jpg" --- # But neither money nor machines can create. They shuttle… ![“But neither money nor machines can create. They shuttle tokens of energy, but they do not transform. A civilization based on them puts people out of touch with their creative powers.” quote by Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/lewis-hyde-19548_civilization_but-neither-money-nor-machines-can-creat_1450673.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/lewis-hyde-19548_civilization_but-neither-money-nor-machines-can-creat_1450673.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/lewis-hyde-19548_civilization_but-neither-money-nor-machines-can-creat_1450673.jpg) > “But neither money nor machines can create. They shuttle tokens of energy, but they do not transform. A civilization based on them puts people out of touch with their creative powers.” [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Money and machines lack creative power; they merely transport energy, risking disconnection from human creativity. **In simple terms:** Money/machines move energy, not create. Key Takeaway Cultivate human creativity beyond tools. Themes technology economics creativity Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical social When to use this quote - education - artistic practice - policy making Key Concepts energy transfer creative disconnection materialism Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance tech use with creativity? - What practices nurture creative power? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on tech can stifle imagination. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Civilization Based](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization-based-493156/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Creative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Machines Create](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines-create-3363186/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Transform Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transform-civilization-5215810/) ## Related quotes > [I usually just say I'm a stand-up comedian, but I use looping machines to create ideas with my voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/i-usually-just-say-i-m-a-stand-up-comedian-but-i-use-looping-machines/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [The idea of experimenting with machines to create art was always something I tinkered with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reggie-watts/the-idea-of-experimenting-with-machines-to-create-art-was-always/) [Reggie Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reggie-watts/) > [Really advanced civilization is based on advances in energy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/really-advanced-civilization-is-based-on-advances-in-energy/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [“We have designed our civilization based on science and technology and at the same time arranged things so that almost no one understands anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/we-have-designed-our-civilization-based-on-science-and-technology-and/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Civilization must be based on life. We should never forget that human life was created in and for millions of centuries, was nourished by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/civilization-must-be-based-on-life-we-should-never-forget-that-human/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [If mankind were to continue in other than the present barbarism, a new path must be found, a new civilization based on some other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clifford-d-simak/if-mankind-were-to-continue-in-other-than-the-present-barbarism-a-new/) [Clifford D. Simak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clifford-d-simak/) > [Everything in modern civilization is based on this concept of time which is not really valid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-arguelles/everything-in-modern-civilization-is-based-on-this-concept-of-time/) [Jose Arguelles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-arguelles/) > [In the last analysis civilization is based upon the food supply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/in-the-last-analysis-civilization-is-based-upon-the-food-supply/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [All our civilization is based on invention; before invention, men lived on fruits and nuts and pine cones and slept in caves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reginald-fessenden/all-our-civilization-is-based-on-invention-before-invention-men-lived/) [Reginald Fessenden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reginald-fessenden/) > [“Modern civilization is based on violence and slavery and fine words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/modern-civilization-is-based-on-violence-and-slavery-and-fine-words/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Erik Erikson has commented: Potentially creative men like (Bernard) Shaw build the personal fundament of their work during a self-decreed moratorium, during which they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/erik-erikson-has-commented-potentially-creative-men-like-bernard-shaw/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [The sole perfection which modern civilization attains is a mechanical one; machines are splendid and flawless, but the life which serves them or is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-capek/the-sole-perfection-which-modern-civilization-attains-is-a-mechanical/) [Karel Capek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-capek/) > [That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended - civilizations are built up - excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/that-is-the-key-to-history-terrific-energy-is-expended-civilizations/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [It would take a civilization far more advanced than ours, unbelievably advanced, to begin to manipulate negative energy to create gateways to the past.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/it-would-take-a-civilization-far-more-advanced-than-ours-unbelievably/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [The US has developed two coordinate governing classes: the one, called 'business,' building cities, manufacturing and distributing goods, and holding complete and autocratic power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurman-arnold/the-us-has-developed-two-coordinate-governing-classes-the-one-called/) [Thurman Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurman-arnold/) ## More by Lewis Hyde > [We are only alive to the degree that we can let ourselves be moved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/we-are-only-alive-to-the-degree-that-we-can-let-ourselves-be-moved/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [What is it about a work of art, even when it is bought and sold in the market, that makes us distinguish it from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/what-is-it-about-a-work-of-art-even-when-it-is-bought-and-sold-in-the/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [Erik Erikson has commented: Potentially creative men like (Bernard) Shaw build the personal fundament of their work during a self-decreed moratorium, during which they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/erik-erikson-has-commented-potentially-creative-men-like-bernard-shaw/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [“All cultures seem to find a slightly alien local population to carry the Hermes projection. For the Vietnamese it is the Chinese, and for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/all-cultures-seem-to-find-a-slightly-alien-local-population-to-carry/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [The passage into mystery always refreshes. If, when we work, we can look once a day upon the face of mystery, then our labor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/the-passage-into-mystery-always-refreshes-if-when-we-work-we-can-look/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [To be a great teacher, you can't simply be looking at how to earn your income. And with a priest or spiritual leader -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/to-be-a-great-teacher-you-can-t-simply-be-looking-at-how-to-earn-your/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [Irony has only emergency use. Carried over time it is the voice of the trapped who have come to enjoy their cage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/irony-has-only-emergency-use-carried-over-time-it-is-the-voice-of-the/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [We forgive when we give up attachment to our wounds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/we-forgive-when-we-give-up-attachment-to-our-wounds/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [All that we make and do is shaped by the communities and traditions that contain us, not to mention by money, power, politics, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/all-that-we-make-and-do-is-shaped-by-the-communities-and-traditions/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [Science may not be as intimate as the medical profession; nonetheless, it certainly is a community in which ideas are often shared as contributions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/science-may-not-be-as-intimate-as-the-medical-profession-nonetheless/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [“There is the family of our birth and then there is a more noble world to which we really belong; the richness of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/there-is-the-family-of-our-birth-and-then-there-is-a-more-noble-world/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [An anaesthetic is a poet-killer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/an-anaesthetic-is-a-poet-killer/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [“Irony got dangerous when it became a habit. Wallace quoted Lewis Hyde…”Irony has only emergency use. Carried over time, it is the voice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/irony-got-dangerous-when-it-became-a-habit-wallace-quoted-lewis-hyde/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [When we are moved by art we are grateful that the artist lived, grateful that he labored in the service of his gifts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/when-we-are-moved-by-art-we-are-grateful-that-the-artist-lived/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) > [Unlike the sale of a commodity, the giving of a gift tends to establish a relationship between the parties involved. When gifts circulate within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/unlike-the-sale-of-a-commodity-the-giving-of-a-gift-tends-to/) [Lewis Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) [Explore all 32 Lewis Hyde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/) ## 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. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But neither money nor machines can create. They shuttle tokens of energy, but they do not transform. A civilization based on them puts people out of touch with their creative powers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lewis Hyde" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/but-neither-money-nor-machines-can-create-they-shuttle-tokens-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civilization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/but-neither-money-nor-machines-can-create-they-shuttle-tokens-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/lewis-hyde-19548_civilization_but-neither-money-nor-machines-can-creat_1450673.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/lewis-hyde-19548_civilization_but-neither-money-nor-machines-can-creat_1450673.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c2/lewis-hyde-19548_civilization_but-neither-money-nor-machines-can-creat_1450673.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But neither money nor machines can create. They shuttle tokens of energy, but they do not transform. A…” — Lewis Hyde", "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": "Lewis Hyde", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-hyde/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But neither money nor machines can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/but-neither-money-nor-machines-can-create-they-shuttle-tokens-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-hyde/but-neither-money-nor-machines-can-create-they-shuttle-tokens-of/#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 } } ] } ```