--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The fact is, that civilization requires…" description: "\"The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/oscar-wilde-16_civilization_the-fact-is-that-civilization-requires-s_2323739.jpg" --- # The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. Unless… ![“The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become almost impossible.” quote by Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/oscar-wilde-16_civilization_the-fact-is-that-civilization-requires-s_2323739.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/oscar-wilde-16_civilization_the-fact-is-that-civilization-requires-s_2323739.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/oscar-wilde-16_civilization_the-fact-is-that-civilization-requires-s_2323739.jpg) > “The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become almost impossible.” [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Argues that civilization depends on a class of people doing undesirable work, freeing others for culture. **In simple terms:** Society needs laborers for menial tasks to enable art and thought. Key Takeaway Recognize the value of all work types. Themes labor class culture Mood critical thought‑provoking Type philosophical sociological When to use this quote - urban planning - policy making - education - social activism Key Concepts economics social hierarchy division of labor Questions to Reflect On - Can societies thrive without a servile class? - What ethical alternatives exist? A Different Perspective The view ignores exploitation and the potential for automation to change labor dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Contemplation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemplation/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Work Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-culture/) ## Related quotes > [The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. Human slavery is wrong, insecure, and demoralizing. On mechanical slavery, on the slavery of the machine, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-fact-is-that-civilization-requires-slaves-human-slavery-is-wrong/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“It is said culture requires slaves. I say that no cultured society can be built with slaves. This terrible Twentieth Century has made all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/it-is-said-culture-requires-slaves-i-say-that-no-cultured-society-can/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [From barbarism to civilization requires a century; from civilization to barbarism needs but a day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/from-barbarism-to-civilization-requires-a-century-from-civilization/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) > [To deal with the true causes of war one must begin by recognizing as of prime relevancy to the solution of the problem the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elihu-root/to-deal-with-the-true-causes-of-war-one-must-begin-by-recognizing-as/) [Elihu Root](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elihu-root/) > [“Today we are faced with the pre-eminent fact that if civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships, the ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/today-we-are-faced-with-the-pre-eminent-fact-that-if-civilization-is/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [The more one observes, the more clearly does he see that it is in the soil of pure science that are found the origins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-hoover/the-more-one-observes-the-more-clearly-does-he-see-that-it-is-in-the/) [Herbert Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-hoover/) > [The universal regard for money is the one hopeful fact in our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-universal-regard-for-money-is-the-one-hopeful-fact-in-our-2/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“He realized that the ritualized world he had dismissed as feminine was in fact civilization.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-willow-wilson-2/he-realized-that-the-ritualized-world-he-had-dismissed-as-feminine/) G Willow Wilson > [When you work in a culture that thrives on innovation and is constantly moving into unchartered territory, you're going to hit dead ends. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-parker/when-you-work-in-a-culture-that-thrives-on-innovation-and-is/) [Mark Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-parker/) > [There's a great work culture at Nadiadwala Grandson. It's true that I'm heading the organization, but there are some brilliant minds here. All of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sajid-nadiadwala/there-s-a-great-work-culture-at-nadiadwala-grandson-it-s-true-that-i/) [Sajid Nadiadwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sajid-nadiadwala/) > [The point of my work is to show that culture and education arent simply hobbies or minor influences. They are hugely important in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bourdieu/the-point-of-my-work-is-to-show-that-culture-and-education-arent/) [Pierre Bourdieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bourdieu/) > [The tech community has taken the first step by recognizing that diversity is a strength and realizing that many of them have to work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-jarrett/the-tech-community-has-taken-the-first-step-by-recognizing-that/) [Valerie Jarrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-jarrett/) > [All the lessons of psychiatry, psychology, social work, indeed culture, have taught us over the last hundred years that it is the acceptance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ralston-saul/all-the-lessons-of-psychiatry-psychology-social-work-indeed-culture/) [John Ralston Saul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ralston-saul/) > [“I think the four major pillars of work culture are punctuality, integrity, professional competence, and a sense of social responsibility or accountability.       I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajendra-b-aklekar/i-think-the-four-major-pillars-of-work-culture-are-punctuality/) [Rajendra B. Aklekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajendra-b-aklekar/) > [A proactive person needs no pressure to perform and an ineffective person offloads his pressure onto others to deform the positive work culture of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj/a-proactive-person-needs-no-pressure-to-perform-and-an-ineffective/) [Anuj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj/) ## More by Oscar Wilde > [How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/how-else-but-through-a-broken-heart-may-lord-christ-enter-in/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-books-that-the-world-calls-immoral-are-the-books-that-show-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It is not fair that some men should be happier than others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/bachelors-should-be-heavily-taxed-it-is-not-fair-that-some-men-should/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Who, being loved, is poor?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/who-being-loved-is-poor/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Basil my dear boy puts everything that is charming in him into his work. The consequence is that he has nothing left for life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/basil-my-dear-boy-puts-everything-that-is-charming-in-him-into-his/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Anybody can be good in the country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/anybody-can-be-good-in-the-country/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. It makes me far too conceited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-don-t-at-all-like-knowing-what-people-say-of-me-behind-my-back-it/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Alles Populäre ist falsch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/alles-popul-re-ist-falsch/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“If these elements of beauty are real, the whole thing simply appeals to our sense of dramatic effect. Suddenly we find that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/if-these-elements-of-beauty-are-real-the-whole-thing-simply-appeals/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [To love one's self is the beginning of a life-long romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/to-love-one-s-self-is-the-beginning-of-a-life-long-romance/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/those-who-find-beautiful-meanings-in-beautiful-things-are-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Men always want to be a womans first love. Women have a more subtle instinct: What they like is to be a mans last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/men-always-want-to-be-a-womans-first-love-women-have-a-more-subtle/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/why-is-it-that-at-a-bachelor-s-establishment-the-servants-invariably/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/moderation-is-a-fatal-thing-enough-is-as-bad-as-a-meal-more-than/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/beauty-is-the-only-thing-that-time-cannot-harm-philosophies-fall-away/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Explore all 3,343 Oscar Wilde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become almost impossible.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Oscar Wilde" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-fact-is-that-civilization-requires-slaves-unless-there-are-slaves/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civilization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-fact-is-that-civilization-requires-slaves-unless-there-are-slaves/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/oscar-wilde-16_civilization_the-fact-is-that-civilization-requires-s_2323739.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/oscar-wilde-16_civilization_the-fact-is-that-civilization-requires-s_2323739.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/99b/oscar-wilde-16_civilization_the-fact-is-that-civilization-requires-s_2323739.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The fact is, that civilization requires slaves. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible…” — Oscar Wilde", "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": "Oscar Wilde", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The fact is, that civilization requires...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-fact-is-that-civilization-requires-slaves-unless-there-are-slaves/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-fact-is-that-civilization-requires-slaves-unless-there-are-slaves/#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 } } ] } ```