--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Hysteria and degeneration have always…" description: "\"Hysteria and degeneration have always existed; but they formerly showed themselves sporadically, and had no importance in the life of the whole communi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fc/max-nordau-36482_civilization_hysteria-and-degeneration-have-always-ex_74382.png" --- # Hysteria and degeneration have always existed; but they… ![“Hysteria and degeneration have always existed; but they formerly showed themselves sporadically, and had no importance in the life of the whole community. It was only the vast fatigue which was experienced by the generation on which the multitudes of discoveries and innovations burst abruptly…” quote by Max Nordau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fc/max-nordau-36482_civilization_hysteria-and-degeneration-have-always-ex_74382.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fc/max-nordau-36482_civilization_hysteria-and-degeneration-have-always-ex_74382.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5fc/max-nordau-36482_civilization_hysteria-and-degeneration-have-always-ex_74382.png) > “Hysteria and degeneration have always existed; but they formerly showed themselves sporadically, and had no importance in the life of the whole community. It was only the vast fatigue which was experienced by the generation on which the multitudes of discoveries and innovations burst abruptly, imposing on it organic exigencies greatly surpassing its strength, which created favourable conditions under which these maladies could gain ground enormously, and become a danger to civilization.” [Max Nordau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-nordau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Societal stress from rapid technological change can cause widespread mental and cultural decline, threatening civilization. **In simple terms:** Rapid change can destabilize societies. Key Takeaway Unchecked progress may erode social health. Themes modernity psychology civilization stress innovation culture Mood concerned reflective cautious Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - industrial revolution - digital age - post‑war reconstruction - global pandemic - economic boom Key Concepts collective fatigue degeneration social resilience technological impact Practical Applications - policy planning for mental health - designing sustainable innovation cycles Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance progress with mental well‑being? - What safeguards can prevent cultural decay during rapid change? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Hysteria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hysteria/) [Innovation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innovation/) ## Related quotes > [It is not till it is discovered that high individual incomes will not purchase the mass of mankind immunity from cholera, typhus, and ignorance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-h-tawney/it-is-not-till-it-is-discovered-that-high-individual-incomes-will-not/) [R. H. Tawney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-h-tawney/) > [I am convinced that 1941 will be the crucial year of a great New Order in Europe. The world shall open up for everyone.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/i-am-convinced-that-1941-will-be-the-crucial-year-of-a-great-new/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Welcome to the degeneration of my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hank-green/welcome-to-the-degeneration-of-my-mind/) [Hank Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hank-green/) > [Humanity to me is not a mob. A mob is a degeneration of humanity. A mob is humanity going the wrong way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lloyd-wright/humanity-to-me-is-not-a-mob-a-mob-is-a-degeneration-of-humanity-a-mob/) [Frank Lloyd Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lloyd-wright/) > [It is thought that the virus is a degeneration from a more complex life form. It may at one time have been capable of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/it-is-thought-that-the-virus-is-a-degeneration-from-a-more-complex/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [The beginning is always so fine!! But decay soon follows. A degeneration into the tired old situation. The rot sets in. This way, there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jhonen-vasquez/the-beginning-is-always-so-fine-but-decay-soon-follows-a-degeneration/) [Jhonen Vasquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jhonen-vasquez/) > [Socialism crushes human rights, builds the state, impinges on the liberty of conscience, and breeds social, cultural, and economic degeneration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/llewellyn-rockwell/socialism-crushes-human-rights-builds-the-state-impinges-on-the/) [Llewellyn Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/llewellyn-rockwell/) > [In the eye, there is a type of junk that accumulates in the back of the retina that eventually causes us to go blind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aubrey-de-grey/in-the-eye-there-is-a-type-of-junk-that-accumulates-in-the-back-of/) [Aubrey de Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aubrey-de-grey/) > [Remember how many beautiful women there were in the 1950s and 1960s, without any surgery? 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Nature, in scheduling his characteristics, had pruned all superlatives. The rude armour of the flesh, under which the spiritual,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-capes/rose-was-patently-a-degenerate-nature-in-scheduling-his/) [Bernard Capes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-capes/) > [“The too perfect security of the Upper-worlders had led them to a slow movement of degeneration, a general dwindling in size strength and intelligence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-too-perfect-security-of-the-upper-worlders-had-led-them-to-a-slow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Human beings are compelled to live within a lie, but they can be compelled to do so only because they are in fact capable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vaclav-havel/human-beings-are-compelled-to-live-within-a-lie-but-they-can-be/) [Vaclav Havel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vaclav-havel/) > [“Perhaps everything in life is the degeneration of something else. 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Here they hold jubilant peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-nordau/how-dare-the-smooth-talkers-the-clever-official-blabbers-open-their/) [Max Nordau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-nordau/) > [Let me tell you the following words as if I were showing you the rungs of a ladder leading upward and upward: Herzl; the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-nordau/let-me-tell-you-the-following-words-as-if-i-were-showing-you-the/) [Max Nordau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-nordau/) > [ \[H\]istory is a melodrama on the theme of parasitism, characterized by scenes that are exciting or dull, as the case may be, and many… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-nordau/h-istory-is-a-melodrama-on-the-theme-of-parasitism-characterized-by/) [Max Nordau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-nordau/) > [By the end of the 20th Century there will be a generation to whom it will not be injurious to read a dozen quire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-nordau/by-the-end-of-the-20th-century-there-will-be-a-generation-to-whom-it/) [Max Nordau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-nordau/) > [The first condition a community should set, if it aspires to be a nation, is to own the land whereon it lives, and supply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-nordau/the-first-condition-a-community-should-set-if-it-aspires-to-be-a/) [Max Nordau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-nordau/) [Explore all 13 Max Nordau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-nordau/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. 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