--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Empires are not brought down by outside…" description: "\"Empires are not brought down by outside forces, they are destroyed by weaknesses from within.\" — Lionel" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/lionel-40524_destroyed_empires-are-not-brought-down-by-outside_2854868.jpg" --- # Empires are not brought down by outside forces, they are… ![“Empires are not brought down by outside forces, they are destroyed by weaknesses from within.” quote by Lionel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/lionel-40524_destroyed_empires-are-not-brought-down-by-outside_2854868.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/lionel-40524_destroyed_empires-are-not-brought-down-by-outside_2854868.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/lionel-40524_destroyed_empires-are-not-brought-down-by-outside_2854868.jpg) > “Empires are not brought down by outside forces, they are destroyed by weaknesses from within.” [Lionel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Empires collapse due to internal weaknesses rather than external attacks, highlighting the importance of internal health. **In simple terms:** Internal flaws destroy empires, not outsiders. Key Takeaway Strengthen internal foundations. Themes history politics leadership Mood cautionary strategic Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - national governance - corporate strategy Key Concepts systemic decay organizational health Questions to Reflect On - What internal issues threaten your organization? - How can you fortify them? A Different Perspective External threats can still be pivotal. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destroyed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroyed/) [Destroyed Weaknesses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroyed-weaknesses-3820026/) [Empires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empires/) [Empires Brought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empires-brought-3820027/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Forces Destroyed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forces-destroyed-3820025/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Weakness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weakness/) [Weaknesses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weaknesses/) ## Related quotes > [ \[Instead\] of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/instead-of-inquiring-why-the-roman-empire-was-destroyed-we-should/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [In spite of difference of soil and climate, of language and manners, of laws and customs-in spite of things silently gone out of mind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/in-spite-of-difference-of-soil-and-climate-of-language-and-manners-of/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [Seldom can two such epoch-making events have occurred in successive years as happened then. In 1453 the Turks stormed Constantinople and finally destroyed the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-g-kenyon/seldom-can-two-such-epoch-making-events-have-occurred-in-successive/) [Frederic G. Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-g-kenyon/) > [The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the cause of the destruction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-decline-of-rome-was-the-natural-and-inevitable-effect-of/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [The American empire should be destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-dugin/the-american-empire-should-be-destroyed/) [Aleksandr Dugin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-dugin/) > [Obviously, that's the thing any athlete wants to be able to do, to take weaknesses and turn them into strengths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-whittaker/obviously-that-s-the-thing-any-athlete-wants-to-be-able-to-do-to-take/) [Robert Whittaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-whittaker/) > [Every medium has its advantages and weaknesses and there are many things I can put down on paper that I might not be able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-wright/every-medium-has-its-advantages-and-weaknesses-and-there-are-many/) [Lawrence Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-wright/) > [“You talking about computer weaknesses?" "Yes. But also human weaknesses." "Meaning what?" "Meaning the types of weaknesses that make humans let down their guard.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-pavone/you-talking-about-computer-weaknesses-yes-but-also-human-weaknesses/) [Chris Pavone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-pavone/) > [My only sanction is the love and affection in which you hold me. But it has its weaknesses, as it has its strengths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-only-sanction-is-the-love-and-affection-in-which-you-hold-me-but/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“You have to learn where your weaknesses end and your strengths starts or you will spend your life focusing on all that falls apart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-rowe/you-have-to-learn-where-your-weaknesses-end-and-your-strengths-starts/) [Nikki rowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-rowe/) > [You can't abuse your body and you need to work hard on your weaknesses. Everyone likes to focus on the things they are good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-lafontaine/you-can-t-abuse-your-body-and-you-need-to-work-hard-on-your/) [Pat LaFontaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-lafontaine/) > [Some people pretend they never were in love and never wrote poetry; two weaknesses which they dare not own -- one of the heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/some-people-pretend-they-never-were-in-love-and-never-wrote-poetry/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [Many times our weaknesses are extensions of our strengths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/many-times-our-weaknesses-are-extensions-of-our-strengths/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [An arch consists of two weaknesses which, leaning one against the other, make a strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/an-arch-consists-of-two-weaknesses-which-leaning-one-against-the/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [“Those who know what's wrong with them and take care of themselves accordingly will tend to live a lot longer than those who consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-hoff/those-who-know-what-s-wrong-with-them-and-take-care-of-themselves/) [Benjamin Hoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-hoff/) ## More by Lionel > [Even if I played for a million years, I’d never come close to Maradona. Not that I’d want to anyway. He’s the greatest there’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/even-if-i-played-for-a-million-years-i-d-never-come-close-to-maradona/) [Lionel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/) > [Your secret is safe with me, Kal-El](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/your-secret-is-safe-with-me-kal-el/) [Lionel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/) > [I Rushed to get back before it was time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/i-rushed-to-get-back-before-it-was-time/) [Lionel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/) > [Black widows may be powerful predators, but every predator is somebody else's prey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/black-widows-may-be-powerful-predators-but-every-predator-is-somebody/) [Lionel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/) > [Coincidence. That's an explanation used by fools and liars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/coincidence-that-s-an-explanation-used-by-fools-and-liars/) [Lionel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/) > [Tuskegee is a state of mind as it is a place, a place of possibility, hope, promise, self-empowerment, and where dreams come true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/tuskegee-is-a-state-of-mind-as-it-is-a-place-a-place-of-possibility/) [Lionel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/) > [If everything goes right then I can get going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/if-everything-goes-right-then-i-can-get-going/) [Lionel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/) > [Well, replace the word 'kinda' with the word 'repeatedly,' and the word 'dog' with 'son.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/well-replace-the-word-kinda-with-the-word-repeatedly-and-the-word-dog/) [Lionel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/) > [Ladies and gentlemen, Im going to prove to you not only that Freddy Quimby is guilty, but that he is also innocent of not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/ladies-and-gentlemen-im-going-to-prove-to-you-not-only-that-freddy/) [Lionel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/) > [Love has a way of blinding even the sharpest minds. We don't look because we don't want to see. But once love is stripped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/love-has-a-way-of-blinding-even-the-sharpest-minds-we-don-t-look/) [Lionel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/) [Explore all 11 Lionel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/) ## More Destroyed quotes > [To refer even in passing to unpublished or struggling authors and their problems is to put oneself at some risk, so I will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley-amis/to-refer-even-in-passing-to-unpublished-or-struggling-authors-and/) [Kingsley Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley-amis/) > [Poetry fettered, fetters the human race. Nations are destroyed or flourish in proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are destroyed or flourish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/poetry-fettered-fetters-the-human-race-nations-are-destroyed-or/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [ Evil cannot be "treated" -- nor should it be. Evil has to \[be\] confronted and destroyed and it matters not why the evil is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-o-reilly/evil-cannot-be-treated-nor-should-it-be-evil-has-to-be-confronted-and/) [Bill O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-o-reilly/) > [You know, I often thought that the gangster and the artist are the same in the eyes of the masses. They're admired and hero-worshipped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-kubrick/you-know-i-often-thought-that-the-gangster-and-the-artist-are-the/) [Stanley Kubrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-kubrick/) > [They're criminals, they brutalized Afghanistan, they killed our people, they destroyed our land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamid-karzai/they-re-criminals-they-brutalized-afghanistan-they-killed-our-people/) [Hamid Karzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamid-karzai/) > [To all conservative women out there: If you are so sure the embryo needed for stem cell research are precious human life that can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/to-all-conservative-women-out-there-if-you-are-so-sure-the-embryo/) [Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/) > [“My problem is that the human race seems to want to be destroyed!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhonen-vasquez/my-problem-is-that-the-human-race-seems-to-want-to-be-destroyed/) [Jhonen Vasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhonen-vasquez/) > [Wasn't Saddam destroyed? Wasn't Gaddafi liquidated? Didn't Milosevic go to the Hague? All true. But Stalin survived. Kim Jong-un isn't doing too badly, either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fisk/wasn-t-saddam-destroyed-wasn-t-gaddafi-liquidated-didn-t-milosevic-go/) [Robert Fisk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fisk/) > [We all carry it within us: supreme strength, the fullness of wisdom, unquenchable joy. It is never thwarted, and cannot be destroyed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/we-all-carry-it-within-us-supreme-strength-the-fullness-of-wisdom/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [Wars--and what is war except crime on a mass scale?--destroy rather than produce. The vandal that destroys a window causes not only the owner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-young/wars-and-what-is-war-except-crime-on-a-mass-scale-destroy-rather-than/) [Adam Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-young/) > ['Johnny' was a coping mechanism who could take those things which could have ordinarily destroyed me, by tweaking my past and throwing it back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-vegas/johnny-was-a-coping-mechanism-who-could-take-those-things-which-could/) [Johnny Vegas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-vegas/) > [Like Samson, I am ready to pull down the white man's temple, knowing full well that I will be destroyed by the falling rubble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/like-samson-i-am-ready-to-pull-down-the-white-man-s-temple-knowing/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Men will never rest till they've spoiled the earth and destroyed the animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-adams/men-will-never-rest-till-they-ve-spoiled-the-earth-and-destroyed-the/) [Richard Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-adams/) > [The triangle of truisms, of father, mother and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-triangle-of-truisms-of-father-mother-and-child-cannot-be/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/if-in-the-opinion-of-the-people-the-distribution-or-modification-of/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) [Browse all 1,587 Destroyed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroyed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Empires are not brought down by outside forces, they are destroyed by weaknesses from within.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lionel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/empires-are-not-brought-down-by-outside-forces-they-are-destroyed-by/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Destroyed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/empires-are-not-brought-down-by-outside-forces-they-are-destroyed-by/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/lionel-40524_destroyed_empires-are-not-brought-down-by-outside_2854868.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/lionel-40524_destroyed_empires-are-not-brought-down-by-outside_2854868.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee9/lionel-40524_destroyed_empires-are-not-brought-down-by-outside_2854868.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Empires are not brought down by outside forces, they are destroyed by weaknesses from within.” — Lionel", "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": "Lionel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Empires are not brought down by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/empires-are-not-brought-down-by-outside-forces-they-are-destroyed-by/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel/empires-are-not-brought-down-by-outside-forces-they-are-destroyed-by/#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 } } ] } ```