--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we require is not a formal return to…" description: "\"What we require is not a formal return to tradition and religion, but a rereading, a reinterpretation, of our history that can illuminate the present a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbf/nawal-el-saadawi-4167_ancient_what-we-require-is-not-a-formal-return-t_2856691.jpg" --- # What we require is not a formal return to tradition and… ![“What we require is not a formal return to tradition and religion, but a rereading, a reinterpretation, of our history that can illuminate the present and pave the way to a better future. For example, if we delve more deeply into ancient Egyptian and African civilisations we will discover the…” quote by Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbf/nawal-el-saadawi-4167_ancient_what-we-require-is-not-a-formal-return-t_2856691.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbf/nawal-el-saadawi-4167_ancient_what-we-require-is-not-a-formal-return-t_2856691.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbf/nawal-el-saadawi-4167_ancient_what-we-require-is-not-a-formal-return-t_2856691.jpg) > “What we require is not a formal return to tradition and religion, but a rereading, a reinterpretation, of our history that can illuminate the present and pave the way to a better future. For example, if we delve more deeply into ancient Egyptian and African civilisations we will discover the humanistic elements that were prevalent in many areas of life. Women enjoyed a high status and rights, which they later lost when class patriarchal society became the prevalent social system.” [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reinterpreting history reveals past gender equality, guiding better futures. **In simple terms:** Learning from ancient societies can improve today. Key Takeaway Study diverse histories for inclusive progress. Themes history gender progress Mood reflective hopeful Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - education reform - policy making - media representation - activism Key Concepts feminist theory postcolonial studies Questions to Reflect On - Which ancient practices can we adopt? - How do we avoid romanticizing the past? A Different Perspective Historical sources may be limited or biased. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Ancient egyptian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient-egyptian/) [Better future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-future/) [Civilisation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilisation/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Egyptian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/egyptian/) [Elements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elements/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Humanistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanistic/) [Patriarchal society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriarchal-society/) [Reinterpretation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reinterpretation/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition/) ## Related quotes > [Motherhood goes back in history to a time when a father had no way of knowing his children. Fatherhood only became known when class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/motherhood-goes-back-in-history-to-a-time-when-a-father-had-no-way-of/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [“A spiritual reinterpretation of events gives us miraculous authority to command the winds, to part the waters, and to break all chains that bind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/a-spiritual-reinterpretation-of-events-gives-us-miraculous-authority/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [The reinterpretation and eventual eradication of the concept of right and wrong are that belated objectives of nearly all Psychotherapy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-chisholm/the-reinterpretation-and-eventual-eradication-of-the-concept-of-right/) [Brock Chisholm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-chisholm/) > [Fundamental progress has to do with the reinterpretation of basic ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/fundamental-progress-has-to-do-with-the-reinterpretation-of-basic/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Maya Jasanoff's Liberty's Exiles places the loyalist experience and the aftermath of the American Revolution in an entirely new light. Alongside the Spirit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-wilentz/maya-jasanoff-s-liberty-s-exiles-places-the-loyalist-experience-and/) [Sean Wilentz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-wilentz/) > [I don't like to use the word 'remake', I think reinterpretation is a better word. It's just a matter of respecting the source, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spike-lee/i-don-t-like-to-use-the-word-remake-i-think-reinterpretation-is-a/) [Spike Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spike-lee/) > [Pascal in his bitter rendition of the practices of the Jesuit intellectuals he despised, including their demonstration of "the utility of interpretation," a device…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/pascal-in-his-bitter-rendition-of-the-practices-of-the-jesuit/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [No experimental result can ever kill a theory: any theory can be saved from counterinstances either by some auxiliary hypothesis or by a suitable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imre-lakatos/no-experimental-result-can-ever-kill-a-theory-any-theory-can-be-saved/) [Imre Lakatos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imre-lakatos/) > [Black Nativity certainly lends itself to reinterpretation. It was kind of designed to be infused with the creativity of whoever is putting it on,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kasi-lemmons/black-nativity-certainly-lends-itself-to-reinterpretation-it-was-kind/) [Kasi Lemmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kasi-lemmons/) > [“Myths are the retrospective transfiguration of sacrificial crises, the reinterpretation of those crises in light of the cultural order that has arisen from them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-girard/myths-are-the-retrospective-transfiguration-of-sacrificial-crises-the/) [René Girard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-girard/) > [I am always a different man; a reinterpretation of the man I was yesterday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-j-bishop-2/i-am-always-a-different-man-a-reinterpretation-of-the-man-i-was/) K. J. Bishop > [Science fiction that's just about people wandering around in space ships shooting each other with ray guns is very dull. I like it when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/science-fiction-that-s-just-about-people-wandering-around-in-space/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [“The end of the world is not its destruction, but its translation into Heaven. The reinterpretation of the world is the transfer of all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-course-in-miracles/the-end-of-the-world-is-not-its-destruction-but-its-translation-into/) [A Course in Miracles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-course-in-miracles/) > [In order to be as free as I possibly can, in my own imagination, I can't take positions that are closed. Everything I've ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-order-to-be-as-free-as-i-possibly-can-in-my-own-imagination-i-can/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Any good piece of material like Shakespeare ought to be open to reinterpretation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/any-good-piece-of-material-like-shakespeare-ought-to-be-open-to/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) ## More by Nawal El Saadawi > [There is not a revolution that succe Women are suffering because they are being excluded. The high military council excluded women from the committee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/there-is-not-a-revolution-that-succe-women-are-suffering-because-they/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [To be creative means to connect. It's to abolish the gap between the body, the mind and the soul, between science and art, between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/to-be-creative-means-to-connect-it-s-to-abolish-the-gap-between-the/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [We here in Egypt are fed up with U.S. colonialism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/we-here-in-egypt-are-fed-up-with-u-s-colonialism/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [Education should be totally secular. I am not telling people not to believe in God, but it should be a personal matter which should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/education-should-be-totally-secular-i-am-not-telling-people-not-to/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [Home to me is the world because my books have been translated into more than 30 languages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/home-to-me-is-the-world-because-my-books-have-been-translated-into/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [Doubt is the first step towards knowledge, not faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/doubt-is-the-first-step-towards-knowledge-not-faith/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [I had to educate myself about female circumcision, about the clitoris, about sexology. We studied gynecology only. Pregnancy, maternal care, etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/i-had-to-educate-myself-about-female-circumcision-about-the-clitoris/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [The feminists who are aware of the effects of patriarchy realize that we are all in the same boat from the dangers of patriarchy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/the-feminists-who-are-aware-of-the-effects-of-patriarchy-realize-that/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [If you are creative, you must be dissident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/if-you-are-creative-you-must-be-dissident/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [“Now i had learnt that honor required large sums of money to protect it, but that large sums of money could not be obtained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/now-i-had-learnt-that-honor-required-large-sums-of-money-to-protect/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [“Badreya whispered in her ear, “The price of freedom is high, Bodour, and there is no writing without freedom. Break your chains, Bodour, break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/badreya-whispered-in-her-ear-the-price-of-freedom-is-high-bodour-and/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [Thus, after a period of about two thousand years the greatest crime became to worship a god other than the God of Moses, whereas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/thus-after-a-period-of-about-two-thousand-years-the-greatest-crime/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [If you do not love yourself, well, you cannot do anything well, that's my philosophy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/if-you-do-not-love-yourself-well-you-cannot-do-anything-well-that-s/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [ Women are suffering because they are being excluded. The high military council excluded women from the committee to change the constitution \[of Egypt\]. We… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/women-are-suffering-because-they-are-being-excluded-the-high-military/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) > [Solidarity between women can be a powerful force of change, and can influence future development in ways favourable not only to women but also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nawal-el-saadawi/solidarity-between-women-can-be-a-powerful-force-of-change-and-can/) [Nawal El Saadawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) [Explore all 114 Nawal El Saadawi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nawal-el-saadawi/) ## 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": "What we require is not a formal return to tradition and religion, but a rereading, a reinterpretation, of our history that can illuminate the present and pave the way to a better future. 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