--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To have dragons one must have change…" description: "\"To have dragons one must have change; that is the first principle of dragon lore.\" — Loren Eiseley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f3/loren-eiseley-3848_change_to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-tha_38557.png" --- # To have dragons one must have change; that is the first… ![“To have dragons one must have change; that is the first principle of dragon lore.” quote by Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f3/loren-eiseley-3848_change_to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-tha_38557.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f3/loren-eiseley-3848_change_to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-tha_38557.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f3/loren-eiseley-3848_change_to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-tha_38557.png) > “To have dragons one must have change; that is the first principle of dragon lore.” [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Change is a prerequisite for possessing power or mastery; without transformation, the extraordinary cannot be attained. **In simple terms:** Power requires transformation. Key Takeaway Transformation enables mastery. Themes change power mythology growth transformation Mood inspired reflective Type aphaphorical motivational When to use this quote - personal development - organizational change - creative projects - learning new skills Key Concepts principle dragon lore metaphor Practical Applications - leadership training - innovation workshops Questions to Reflect On - How does embracing change affect your ability to achieve goals? - What does 'dragon' symbolize in your context? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragon/) [Dragons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dragons/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) ## Related quotes > [“It is the consistency of principle that when form changes, the mind and ch’i change with it. Principle has no form, but exists within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/issai-chozanshi/it-is-the-consistency-of-principle-that-when-form-changes-the-mind/) [Issai Chozanshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/issai-chozanshi/) > [Change based on principle is progress. Constant change without principle becomes chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/change-based-on-principle-is-progress-constant-change-without/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [“They say dragons never truly die. No matter how many times you kill them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-g-rogers/they-say-dragons-never-truly-die-no-matter-how-many-times-you-kill/) S.G. Rogers > [So, you're worried that a pink dragon will fly over the concent and fart nerve gas on us?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/so-you-re-worried-that-a-pink-dragon-will-fly-over-the-concent-and/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [Adult dragons are,astute,powerful,and sure of their strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ciruelo-cabral/adult-dragons-are-astute-powerful-and-sure-of-their-strength/) Ciruelo Cabral > [Raising Black children-female and male-in the mouth of a racist, sexist, suicidal dragon is perilous and chancy. If they cannot love and resist at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/raising-black-children-female-and-male-in-the-mouth-of-a-racist/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/perhaps-all-the-dragons-of-our-lives-are-princesses-who-are-only/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [I'm not sure if it's fair to call it a 'fairy tale,' but I really loved 'Mulan,' the Disney film. It was my favorite.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lily-cole/i-m-not-sure-if-it-s-fair-to-call-it-a-fairy-tale-but-i-really-loved/) [Lily Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lily-cole/) > [Holly is alive,' thought Foaly 'My princess lives,'exulted Orion. 'And we're chasing a dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-colfer/holly-is-alive-thought-foaly-my-princess-lives-exulted-orion-and-we/) [Eoin Colfer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eoin-colfer/) > [I know how the birds fly, how the fishes swim, how animals run. But there is the Dragon. I cannot tell how it mounts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/i-know-how-the-birds-fly-how-the-fishes-swim-how-animals-run-but/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fairy-tales-are-more-than-true-not-because-they-tell-us-that-dragons/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Unable to help herself, she traced the tat, startled by the black and red ink mixed together. But it was the dragon design itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-grant/unable-to-help-herself-she-traced-the-tat-startled-by-the-black-and/) [Donna Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-grant/) > [“If you banish the dragons, you banish the heroes...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/if-you-banish-the-dragons-you-banish-the-heroes/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [Either dragons should exist completely or fail to exist at all, he felt. A dragon only half-existing was worse than the extremes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/either-dragons-should-exist-completely-or-fail-to-exist-at-all-he/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Arouse a bee and it will come at you with the force of a dragon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takeda-shingen/arouse-a-bee-and-it-will-come-at-you-with-the-force-of-a-dragon/) [Takeda Shingen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takeda-shingen/) ## More by Loren Eiseley > [“Taking a final pleasure in what the wind can neither proclaim nor destroy, I am a student of nightfall, I claim no other profession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/taking-a-final-pleasure-in-what-the-wind-can-neither-proclaim-nor/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [We are one of many appearances of the thing called Life; we are not its perfect image, for it has no perfect image except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/we-are-one-of-many-appearances-of-the-thing-called-life-we-are-not/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Perhaps a creature of so much ingenuity and deep memory is almost bound to grow alienated from his world, his fellows, and the objects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/perhaps-a-creature-of-so-much-ingenuity-and-deep-memory-is-almost/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“The best way to be resurrected is to be forgotten.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/the-best-way-to-be-resurrected-is-to-be-forgotten/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [It is frequently the tragedy of the great artist, as it is of the great scientist, that he frightens the ordinary man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/it-is-frequently-the-tragedy-of-the-great-artist-as-it-is-of-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/every-time-we-walk-along-a-beach-some-ancient-urge-disturbs-us-so/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [The future is neither ahead nor behind, on one side or another. Nor is it dark or light. It is contained within ourselves; its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/the-future-is-neither-ahead-nor-behind-on-one-side-or-another-nor-is/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Out of the choked Devonian waters emerged sight and sound and the music that rolls invisible through the composer's brain. They are there still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/out-of-the-choked-devonian-waters-emerged-sight-and-sound-and-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [One could not pluck a flower without troubling a star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/one-could-not-pluck-a-flower-without-troubling-a-star/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“I once saw, on a flower pot in my own living room, the efforts of a field mouse to build a remembered field. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/i-once-saw-on-a-flower-pot-in-my-own-living-room-the-efforts-of-a/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Lights come and go in the night sky. Men, troubled at last by the things they build, may toss in their sleep and dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/lights-come-and-go-in-the-night-sky-men-troubled-at-last-by-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [The secret, if one may paraphrase a savage vocabulary, lies in the egg of night.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/the-secret-if-one-may-paraphrase-a-savage-vocabulary-lies-in-the-egg/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [Without the gift of flowers and the infinite diversity of their fruits, man and bird, if they had continued to exist at all, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/without-the-gift-of-flowers-and-the-infinite-diversity-of-their/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [“Black magic, the magic of the primeval chaos, blots out or transmogrifies the true form of things. At the stroke of twelve the princess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/black-magic-the-magic-of-the-primeval-chaos-blots-out-or/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [The iron did not remember the blood it had once moved within, the phosphorous had forgot the savage brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/the-iron-did-not-remember-the-blood-it-had-once-moved-within-the/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) [Explore all 121 Loren Eiseley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) ## More Change quotes > [Only within yourself exists the other reality for which you long. I can give you nothing that has not already its being within yourself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/only-within-yourself-exists-the-other-reality-for-which-you-long-i/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [“…progress isn't necessarily about change but about things turning out as we want them to”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-hogan/progress-isn-t-necessarily-about-change-but-about-things-turning-out/) Phil Hogan > [Nobody can tell me that no changes are necessary in Washington.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-weld/nobody-can-tell-me-that-no-changes-are-necessary-in-washington/) [William Weld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-weld/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [When you walk down the street of Kabul your values for life changes, they do change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-pierre-white/when-you-walk-down-the-street-of-kabul-your-values-for-life-changes/) [Marco Pierre White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-pierre-white/) > [Your world will change whether or not you choose to change, but you have the power to choose it's direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/your-world-will-change-whether-or-not-you-choose-to-change-but-you/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [“Stay focused on bringing people together and more on positive messaging so that you can be the change you wish to see in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/germany-kent/stay-focused-on-bringing-people-together-and-more-on-positive/) [Germany Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/germany-kent/) > [The biggest change for me as a mom was realizing I needed to put someone else before me. Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [“After the funeral, my life changed. I felt as if time were suddenly precious, water going down an open drain, and I could not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/after-the-funeral-my-life-changed-i-felt-as-if-time-were-suddenly/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Irish research will contribute to global progress and have the potential to help all countries realise the potential of their land sectors in addressing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enda-kenny/irish-research-will-contribute-to-global-progress-and-have-the/) [Enda Kenny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enda-kenny/) > [No man can change himself into anything from sheer reason; he can only change into what he potentially is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/no-man-can-change-himself-into-anything-from-sheer-reason-he-can-only/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 33,920 Change quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To have dragons one must have change; that is the first principle of dragon lore.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Loren Eiseley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-that-is-the-first-principle-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Change" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-that-is-the-first-principle-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f3/loren-eiseley-3848_change_to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-tha_38557.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f3/loren-eiseley-3848_change_to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-tha_38557.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f3/loren-eiseley-3848_change_to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-tha_38557.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To have dragons one must have change; that is the first principle of dragon lore.” — Loren Eiseley", "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": "Loren Eiseley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "To have dragons one must have...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-that-is-the-first-principle-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/to-have-dragons-one-must-have-change-that-is-the-first-principle-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 } } ] } ```