--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We measure the value of a civilized…" description: "\"We measure the value of a civilized society by the number of # libraries it opens, not the number it closes down.\" — Philip Pullman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/359/philip-pullman-525_civilized_we-measure-the-value-of-a-civilized-soci_1027397.png" --- # We measure the value of a civilized society by the number… ![“We measure the value of a civilized society by the number of # libraries it opens, not the number it closes down.” quote by Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/359/philip-pullman-525_civilized_we-measure-the-value-of-a-civilized-soci_1027397.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/359/philip-pullman-525_civilized_we-measure-the-value-of-a-civilized-soci_1027397.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/359/philip-pullman-525_civilized_we-measure-the-value-of-a-civilized-soci_1027397.png) > “We measure the value of a civilized society by the number of # libraries it opens, not the number it closes down.” [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A society’s progress is measured by its commitment to knowledge, not its destruction of it. **In simple terms:** Libraries show a civilized society’s values. Key Takeaway Support and protect libraries. Themes knowledge civilization progress Mood appreciative concerned Type civic inspirational When to use this quote - school libraries - public libraries - digital archives Key Concepts public good education community cultural heritage Questions to Reflect On - What role do libraries play in your community? - How can you advocate for them? A Different Perspective Funding cuts can limit access to information. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilized/) [Civilized society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilized-society/) [Libraries Opens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libraries-opens-2327148/) [Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library/) [Measure Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/measure-value-318570/) [Numbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbers/) [Value](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value/) [Value Civilized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/value-civilized-2327147/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [War is part of our history, but it is not in at all the same sense part of our prehistory. 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I believe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/the-united-states-has-more-people-living-in-poverty-than-at-almost/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [Nature is rarely allowed to enter the sacred portals of civilized society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hendrik-willem-van-loon/nature-is-rarely-allowed-to-enter-the-sacred-portals-of-civilized/) [Hendrik Willem van Loon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hendrik-willem-van-loon/) > [A general definition of civilization: a civilized society is exhibiting the fine qualities of truth, beauty, adventure, art, peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/a-general-definition-of-civilization-a-civilized-society-is/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [There is scarcely room for doubt that something in the psychological relation of a mother-in-law to a son-in-law breeds hostility between them and makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/there-is-scarcely-room-for-doubt-that-something-in-the-psychological/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Civilized society is perpetually menaced with disintegration through this primary hostility of men towards one another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/civilized-society-is-perpetually-menaced-with-disintegration-through/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [I feel we all have the obligation, myself. 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I do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/with-every-cell-of-my-being-and-with-every-fiber-of-my-memory-i/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) ## More by Philip Pullman > [The state of mind which I put myself when I tell a story is one in which superstition flourishes very easily. And I welcome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-state-of-mind-which-i-put-myself-when-i-tell-a-story-is-one-in/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Religion grants its adherents malign, intoxicating and morally corrosive sensations. Destroying intellectual freedom is always evil, but only religion makes doing evil feel quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/religion-grants-its-adherents-malign-intoxicating-and-morally/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [We don't need lists of rights and wrongs, tables of do's and don'ts: we need books, time, and silence. 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And we all find a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-question-authors-get-asked-more-than-any-other-is-where-do-you/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“We are all subject to the fates. But we must all act as if we are not,” said the witch, “or die of despair.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/we-are-all-subject-to-the-fates-but-we-must-all-act-as-if-we-are-not/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Lonely? I don't know. They tell me this is cold. I don't know what cold is, because I don't freeze. So I don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/lonely-i-don-t-know-they-tell-me-this-is-cold-i-don-t-know-what-cold/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Just finished 'Secrecy' - truly enthralling both as a love story and as a tale of suspense - but much more than both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/just-finished-secrecy-truly-enthralling-both-as-a-love-story-and-as-a/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“As Auden is believed to have said, no poem saved a single Jew from the gas chambers. Never mind. Write the poems anyway. Play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/as-auden-is-believed-to-have-said-no-poem-saved-a-single-jew-from-the/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) [Explore all 479 Philip Pullman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## More Civilized quotes > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [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/) > [Civilized nations are ones that simply can't endure wrongs or injustice except at home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-anderson/civilized-nations-are-ones-that-simply-can-t-endure-wrongs-or/) [Joseph Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-anderson/) > [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [War is not civilized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/war-is-not-civilized/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/no-people-is-wholly-civilized-where-a-distinction-is-drawn-between/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Mine was, as it were, the connecting link between wild and cultivated fields; as some states are civilized, and others half-civilized, and others savage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/mine-was-as-it-were-the-connecting-link-between-wild-and-cultivated/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The military mind is indeed a menace. 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