---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is nothing inherently conservative…"
description: "\"There is nothing inherently conservative in the ancient world.\" — Mary Beard"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/mary-beard-3016_ancient_there-is-nothing-inherently-conservative_2191371.png"
---

#  There is nothing inherently conservative in the ancient…

![“There is nothing inherently conservative in the ancient world.” quote by Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/mary-beard-3016_ancient_there-is-nothing-inherently-conservative_2191371.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/mary-beard-3016_ancient_there-is-nothing-inherently-conservative_2191371.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/mary-beard-3016_ancient_there-is-nothing-inherently-conservative_2191371.png)

> “There is nothing inherently conservative in the ancient world.”

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Ancient societies were not uniformly conservative; they displayed diverse ideas and practices.

**In simple terms:** The ancient world had varied beliefs, not just traditional ones.

Key Takeaway

Recognize complexity in historical narratives.

Themes

history gender studies cultural diversity

Mood

thoughtful inquisitive

Type

educational analytical

When to use this quote

- teaching ancient history
- writing scholarly articles
- public debates

Key Concepts

political thought social norms religious practices

Questions to Reflect On

- How do we avoid projecting modern values onto history?
- What evidence shows ancient societies were progressive?

A Different Perspective

Modern assumptions can oversimplify past cultures.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Ancient world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient-world/) [Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative/) [Conservative Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative-ancient-4774060/) [Inherently Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inherently-conservative-1411879/) [Nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nothing/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/)

## Related quotes

> [Ideas are inherently conservative. They yield not to the attack of other ideas but to the massive onslaught of circumstance with which they cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/ideas-are-inherently-conservative-they-yield-not-to-the-attack-of/)

[John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/)

> [The problem that we've had is four media companies run media, globally. And some say they're on the Right and some say they're on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-smith/the-problem-that-we-ve-had-is-four-media-companies-run-media-globally/)

[Shane Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-smith/)

> [My family was inherently conservative in their values, in their belief system and how they conducted themselves from a fiscal and financial perspective, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslyn-lewis/my-family-was-inherently-conservative-in-their-values-in-their-belief/)

[Leslyn Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslyn-lewis/)

> [A lot of people will always say, 'I really know nothing about the ancient world.' But there's lots and lots of things people know.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/a-lot-of-people-will-always-say-i-really-know-nothing-about-the/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [There is an old joke about socialism as the synthesis of the highest achievements of the whole human history to date: from prehistoric societies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/there-is-an-old-joke-about-socialism-as-the-synthesis-of-the-highest/)

[Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/)

> [What art was to the ancient world, Science is to the modern; the distinctive faculty. In the minds of men, the useful has succeeded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/what-art-was-to-the-ancient-world-science-is-to-the-modern-the/)

[Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/)

> [Gratitude is not a spiritual or moral dessert which we may take or push away according to the whims of the moment, and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noel-razor-smith/gratitude-is-not-a-spiritual-or-moral-dessert-which-we-may-take-or/)

[Noel 'Razor' Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noel-razor-smith/)

> [Let it simply be said that we know more about the details of the hours immediately before and the actual death of Jesus, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilbur-smith/let-it-simply-be-said-that-we-know-more-about-the-details-of-the/)

[Wilbur Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilbur-smith/)

> [Were art to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life and restoring him to an unexpected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/were-art-to-redeem-man-it-could-do-so-only-by-saving-him-from-the/)

[Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/)

> [Perhaps the worst example of Smithsonian contempt for Jesus Christ is seen in its 1994 publication of a coffee-table book entitled Smithsonian Time Lines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-lahaye/perhaps-the-worst-example-of-smithsonian-contempt-for-jesus-christ-is/)

[Tim LaHaye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-lahaye/)

> [Human consciousness arose but a minute before midnight on the geological clock. Yet we mayflies try to bend an ancient world to our purposes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/human-consciousness-arose-but-a-minute-before-midnight-on-the/)

[Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/)

> [Every trace of the old philosophy and literatureof the ancient world has vanished from the face of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-john-chrysostom/every-trace-of-the-old-philosophy-and-literatureof-the-ancient-world/)

[Saint John Chrysostom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-john-chrysostom/)

> [There's a huge amount of work on Adam and Eve, from the ancient world to the present. Saint Augustine was obsessed with them.I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-greenblatt/there-s-a-huge-amount-of-work-on-adam-and-eve-from-the-ancient-world/)

[Stephen Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-greenblatt/)

> [The shore is an ancient world, for as long as there has been an earth and sea there has been this place of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-carson/the-shore-is-an-ancient-world-for-as-long-as-there-has-been-an-earth/)

[Rachel Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-carson/)

> [“When you fear nothing, you have nothing to fear”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-f-chandler/when-you-fear-nothing-you-have-nothing-to-fear/)

[S.F. Chandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-f-chandler/)

## More by Mary Beard

> [I receive something we might euphemistically call an 'inappropriately hostile' response - that is to say, more than fair criticism or even fair anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-receive-something-we-might-euphemistically-call-an-inappropriately/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [We have never escaped a certain male cultural desire for women's silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/we-have-never-escaped-a-certain-male-cultural-desire-for-women-s/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [“defend women’s right to be wrong, at least occasionally.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/defend-women-s-right-to-be-wrong-at-least-occasionally/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [You don't overturn x-thousand years of patriarchy in a generation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/you-don-t-overturn-x-thousand-years-of-patriarchy-in-a-generation/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [“we have no template for what a powerful woman looks like, except that she looks rather like a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/we-have-no-template-for-what-a-powerful-woman-looks-like-except-that/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [“(In the Afghan parliament, apparently, they disconnect the mics when they don’t want to hear the women speak).”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/in-the-afghan-parliament-apparently-they-disconnect-the-mics-when/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [I've chosen to be this way because that's how I feel comfortable with myself. That's how I am. It's about joining up the dots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-ve-chosen-to-be-this-way-because-that-s-how-i-feel-comfortable-with/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [People who exploit others come to spend an enormous amount of energy wondering about and justifying that exploitation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/people-who-exploit-others-come-to-spend-an-enormous-amount-of-energy/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [Wherever possible, I try to see things from the other side of the dividing line and to read civilisation 'against the grain.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/wherever-possible-i-try-to-see-things-from-the-other-side-of-the/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [I remember plastering the kitchen with Black Power pictures of Angela Davis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-remember-plastering-the-kitchen-with-black-power-pictures-of-angela/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [“thinking about power as an attribute or even a verb (‘to power’), not as a possession.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/thinking-about-power-as-an-attribute-or-even-a-verb-to-power-not-as-a/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [If women are not perceived to be fully within the structures of power, surely it is power that we need to redefine rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/if-women-are-not-perceived-to-be-fully-within-the-structures-of-power/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [When it comes to silencing women, Western culture has had thousands of years of practice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/when-it-comes-to-silencing-women-western-culture-has-had-thousands-of/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [I think that what will help women get into positions of power - well, day nurseries, equal pay, family-friendly working hours. And I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-think-that-what-will-help-women-get-into-positions-of-power-well/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

> [“One of its (civilisations) most powerful weapons has always been 'barbarity': 'we' know that 'we' are civilised by contrasting ourselves with those we deem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/one-of-its-civilisations-most-powerful-weapons-has-always-been/)

[Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

[Explore all 137 Mary Beard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/)

## More Ancient quotes

> [“We ought to know the history of our ancient ancestors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-ought-to-know-the-history-of-our-ancient-ancestors/)

[Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/)

> [In ancient times, those who wished to illuminate the world with virtue first brought order to their nations. Wishing to order well their nations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/in-ancient-times-those-who-wished-to-illuminate-the-world-with-virtue/)

[Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/)

> [Ancient eyes had stared at me, filled with ancient grief. And something more. Something so alien and unexpected that I'd almost burst into tears.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/ancient-eyes-had-stared-at-me-filled-with-ancient-grief-and-something/)

[Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/)

> [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/)

[Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/)

> [I don't know if I've come of age, but I'm certainly older now. I feel shrunken, as if there's a tiny ancient Oliver Tate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dunthorne/i-don-t-know-if-i-ve-come-of-age-but-i-m-certainly-older-now-i-feel/)

[Joe Dunthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dunthorne/)

> [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/)

[Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/)

> [Men must speak English who can write Sanskrit; they must speak a modern language who write, perchance, an ancient and universal one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-must-speak-english-who-can-write-sanskrit-they-must-speak-a/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man's treasure, the bad man's refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-tao-is-the-center-of-the-universe-the-good-man-s-treasure-the-bad/)

[Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/)

> [So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/so-too-monks-i-saw-the-ancient-path-the-ancient-road-traveled-by-the/)

[Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/)

> [Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama; fathers and sons, martyred heroes, star-crossed lovers, the deaths of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/ancient-societies-had-anthropomorphic-gods-a-huge-pantheon-expanding/)

[Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/)

> [My life shall be free and broad and great, and I will not be the slave to the sense delights which chained my ancient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/my-life-shall-be-free-and-broad-and-great-and-i-will-not-be-the-slave/)

[Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/)

> [Those of us with this ancient compulsion to tell stories sometimes start with a single kernel of something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-p-jones/those-of-us-with-this-ancient-compulsion-to-tell-stories-sometimes/)

[Edward P. Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-p-jones/)

> [All the stories I have told you are finally as useless as all ancient knowledge is to man and to us. Its images and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/all-the-stories-i-have-told-you-are-finally-as-useless-as-all-ancient/)

[Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/)

> [So what if I'm ninety-three? So what if I'm ancient and cranky and my body's a wreck? If they're willing to accept me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-gruen/so-what-if-i-m-ninety-three-so-what-if-i-m-ancient-and-cranky-and-my/)

[Sara Gruen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-gruen/)

> [Science has revealed a universe that is vast, ancient, violent, strange, and beautiful, a universe of almost infinite variety and possibility one in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-mlodinow/science-has-revealed-a-universe-that-is-vast-ancient-violent-strange/)

[Leonard Mlodinow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-mlodinow/)

[Browse all 2,415 Ancient quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "There is nothing inherently conservative in the ancient world.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Mary Beard"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/there-is-nothing-inherently-conservative-in-the-ancient-world/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Ancient"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/there-is-nothing-inherently-conservative-in-the-ancient-world/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/mary-beard-3016_ancient_there-is-nothing-inherently-conservative_2191371.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/mary-beard-3016_ancient_there-is-nothing-inherently-conservative_2191371.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bf/mary-beard-3016_ancient_there-is-nothing-inherently-conservative_2191371.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“There is nothing inherently conservative in the ancient world.” — Mary Beard",
                "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": "Mary Beard",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "There is nothing inherently conservative in...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/there-is-nothing-inherently-conservative-in-the-ancient-world/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/there-is-nothing-inherently-conservative-in-the-ancient-world/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
