Awful Quote by Oliver Goldsmith
“What cities, as great as this, have . . . promised themselves immortality! Posterity can hardly trace the situation of some. The sorrowful traveller wanders over the awful ruins of others. . . . Here stood their citadel, but now grown over with weeds; there their senate-house, but now the haunt of every noxious reptile; temples and theatres stood here, now only an undistinguished heap of ruins.”
About This Quote
Source Poem: “The Ruins” from The Traveller, 1764
The poet laments that once‑great cities, now decayed, have lost their former glory and are overrun by nature and neglect.
In simple terms: Great cities can fall into ruin.
Key Takeaway
Preserve cultural heritage before decay.
Themes
history
impermanence
nostalgia
decay
legacy
Mood
melancholic
reflective
inspirational
Type
historical
cultural
When to use this quote
- tourism
- urban planning
- heritage preservation
- education about history
Key Concepts
Civilization cycles
urban decay
memory
ephemerality
Questions to Reflect On
- What lessons do ruins teach us?
- How can societies balance preservation and progress?
A Different Perspective
Focusing on ruins may ignore present needs of living communities.
![“For of those [cities] that were great in earlier times, most of them have now become small, while those which were great in my time were small formerly.” quote by Herodotus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/750/herodotus-2844_change_for-of-those-cities-that-were-great-in-e_1467768.jpg)
![“[T]here are depths of thousands of miles which are hidden from our inquiry. The only tidings we have from those unfathomable regions are by means of volcanoes, those burning mountains that seem to discharge their materials from the lowest abysses of the earth.” quote by Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/b7d/oliver-goldsmith-772_abyss_t-here-are-depths-of-thousands-of-miles_88121.jpg)
