--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That which destroys the old mythos…" description: "\"That which destroys the old mythos becomes the new mythos.\" — Robert M. Pirsig" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/robert-m-pirsig-817_destroys_that-which-destroys-the-old-mythos-becom_2353113.png" --- # That which destroys the old mythos becomes the new mythos. ![“That which destroys the old mythos becomes the new mythos.” quote by Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/robert-m-pirsig-817_destroys_that-which-destroys-the-old-mythos-becom_2353113.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/robert-m-pirsig-817_destroys_that-which-destroys-the-old-mythos-becom_2353113.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/robert-m-pirsig-817_destroys_that-which-destroys-the-old-mythos-becom_2353113.png) > “That which destroys the old mythos becomes the new mythos.” [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When old beliefs are dismantled, they give rise to new frameworks that replace them. **In simple terms:** Destroying old ideas creates new ones. Key Takeaway Embrace change to build better narratives. Themes change philosophy mythmaking Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - societal shifts - personal reinvention - technological disruption Key Concepts nihilism creation cultural evolution Questions to Reflect On - What old mythos must you let go of? - How can new myths serve humanity? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destroys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroys/) [Destroys Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroys-old-3274550/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) ## Related quotes > [“As the ironist does not have the new within his power, it might be asked how he destroys the old, and to this it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ren-kierkegaard/as-the-ironist-does-not-have-the-new-within-his-power-it-might-be/) [Søren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ren-kierkegaard/) > [War destroys people's souls. Most people focus on physical injuries, but the invisible injuries can take a lifetime to heal and affects the lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-jal/war-destroys-people-s-souls-most-people-focus-on-physical-injuries/) [Emmanuel Jal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-jal/) > [A normal recession disrupts people's lives, but a long recession destroys them. You lose output, prosperity, family stability, self-esteem, and many other qualities on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-yglesias/a-normal-recession-disrupts-people-s-lives-but-a-long-recession/) [Matthew Yglesias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-yglesias/) > [“Deception destroys. Truth restores.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kireshel-harvey-covell/deception-destroys-truth-restores/) [Kireshel Harvey-Covell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kireshel-harvey-covell/) > [Having to talk destroys the symphony of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/having-to-talk-destroys-the-symphony-of-silence/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [“Life does not accommodate you; it shatters you. Every seed destroys its container, or else there would be no fruition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florida-scott-maxwell/life-does-not-accommodate-you-it-shatters-you-every-seed-destroys-its/) [Florida Scott-Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florida-scott-maxwell/) > [Conservation destroys the present. If we are only busy preserving the past, we are not living in the present and unable to look forward.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-eisenman/conservation-destroys-the-present-if-we-are-only-busy-preserving-the/) [Peter Eisenman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-eisenman/) > [“she is never more herself than when she destroys herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-stead/she-is-never-more-herself-than-when-she-destroys-herself/) [Christina Stead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-stead/) > [“Time destroys everything we do, whatever it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/time-destroys-everything-we-do-whatever-it-is/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [“War is no joke, it seems. It destroys, kills, burns, separates, brings unhappiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zlata-filipovi/war-is-no-joke-it-seems-it-destroys-kills-burns-separates-brings/) [Zlata Filipović](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zlata-filipovi/) > [“That’s the thing about the End of the World. It doesn’t send out Save the Date cards before it destroys everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-meyers/that-s-the-thing-about-the-end-of-the-world-it-doesn-t-send-out-save/) [Jessica Meyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-meyers/) > [Pride destroys all symmetry and grace, and affectation is a more terrible enemy to fine faces than the small-pox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-steele/pride-destroys-all-symmetry-and-grace-and-affectation-is-a-more/) [Richard Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-steele/) > [“None destroys a city like Queek”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guymer/none-destroys-a-city-like-queek/) [David Guymer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guymer/) > [Socialism destroys the incentive to produce, dampens the human spsirit and results, ultimately , in less for everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-limbaugh/socialism-destroys-the-incentive-to-produce-dampens-the-human-spsirit/) [David Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-limbaugh/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More by Robert M. Pirsig > [“And from time to time you find your “county road” takes you onto a two-rutter and then a single rutter and then into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/and-from-time-to-time-you-find-your-county-road-takes-you-onto-a-two/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“I started to roll over for more sleep but heard a rooster crowing and then became aware we are on vacation and there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/i-started-to-roll-over-for-more-sleep-but-heard-a-rooster-crowing-and/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/the-buddha-the-godhead-resides-quite-as-comfortably-in-the-circuits/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Even though quality cannot be defined, you know what quality is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/even-though-quality-cannot-be-defined-you-know-what-quality-is/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [I suppose philosophy is historically not a woman's game, though that is changing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/i-suppose-philosophy-is-historically-not-a-woman-s-game-though-that/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Up until my first book was published, I had all this potential, people would say, and I screwed up. After it, I could say:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/up-until-my-first-book-was-published-i-had-all-this-potential-people/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [There is a perennial classical question that asks which part of the motorcycle, which grain of sand in which pile, is the Buddha. Obviously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/there-is-a-perennial-classical-question-that-asks-which-part-of-the/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“Of the value traps, the most widespread and pernicious is value rigidity. This is an inability to revalue what one sees because of commitment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/of-the-value-traps-the-most-widespread-and-pernicious-is-value/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“Historically mystics have claimed that for a true understanding of reality metaphysics is too “scientific”. Metaphysics is not reality. Metaphysics is names about reality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/historically-mystics-have-claimed-that-for-a-true-understanding-of/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“What’s emerging from the pattern of my own life is the for belief that the crisis is being caused by the inadequacy of existing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/what-s-emerging-from-the-pattern-of-my-own-life-is-the-for-belief/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [To speak of certain government and establishment institutions as 'the system' is to speak correctly . . . They are sustained by structural relationships…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/to-speak-of-certain-government-and-establishment-institutions-as-the/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [If a revolution destroys a systematic government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/if-a-revolution-destroys-a-systematic-government-but-the-systematic/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/the-only-zen-you-can-find-on-the-tops-of-mountains-is-the-zen-you/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Only social patterns can control biological patterns, and the instrument of conversation between society and biology is not words. The instrument of conversation between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/only-social-patterns-can-control-biological-patterns-and-the/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Even in the presence of others he was completely alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/even-in-the-presence-of-others-he-was-completely-alone/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) [Explore all 351 Robert M. Pirsig quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) ## More Destroys quotes > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Socialism destroys the incentive to produce, dampens the human spsirit and results, ultimately , in less for everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-limbaugh/socialism-destroys-the-incentive-to-produce-dampens-the-human-spsirit/) [David Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-limbaugh/) > [“None destroys a city like Queek”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guymer/none-destroys-a-city-like-queek/) [David Guymer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guymer/) > [Pride destroys all symmetry and grace, and affectation is a more terrible enemy to fine faces than the small-pox.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-steele/pride-destroys-all-symmetry-and-grace-and-affectation-is-a-more/) [Richard Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-steele/) > [“That’s the thing about the End of the World. It doesn’t send out Save the Date cards before it destroys everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-meyers/that-s-the-thing-about-the-end-of-the-world-it-doesn-t-send-out-save/) [Jessica Meyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-meyers/) > [“War is no joke, it seems. It destroys, kills, burns, separates, brings unhappiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zlata-filipovi/war-is-no-joke-it-seems-it-destroys-kills-burns-separates-brings/) [Zlata Filipović](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zlata-filipovi/) > [“Time destroys everything we do, whatever it is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-bernhard/time-destroys-everything-we-do-whatever-it-is/) [Thomas Bernhard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-bernhard/) > [“she is never more herself than when she destroys herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-stead/she-is-never-more-herself-than-when-she-destroys-herself/) [Christina Stead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-stead/) > [Conservation destroys the present. If we are only busy preserving the past, we are not living in the present and unable to look forward.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-eisenman/conservation-destroys-the-present-if-we-are-only-busy-preserving-the/) [Peter Eisenman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-eisenman/) > [“Life does not accommodate you; it shatters you. Every seed destroys its container, or else there would be no fruition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florida-scott-maxwell/life-does-not-accommodate-you-it-shatters-you-every-seed-destroys-its/) [Florida Scott-Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florida-scott-maxwell/) > [Having to talk destroys the symphony of silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/having-to-talk-destroys-the-symphony-of-silence/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [“Deception destroys. Truth restores.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kireshel-harvey-covell/deception-destroys-truth-restores/) [Kireshel Harvey-Covell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kireshel-harvey-covell/) > [A normal recession disrupts people's lives, but a long recession destroys them. You lose output, prosperity, family stability, self-esteem, and many other qualities on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-yglesias/a-normal-recession-disrupts-people-s-lives-but-a-long-recession/) [Matthew Yglesias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-yglesias/) > [War destroys people's souls. Most people focus on physical injuries, but the invisible injuries can take a lifetime to heal and affects the lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmanuel-jal/war-destroys-people-s-souls-most-people-focus-on-physical-injuries/) [Emmanuel Jal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmanuel-jal/) > [Anxiety destroys us, but it drives the common man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bad-religion/anxiety-destroys-us-but-it-drives-the-common-man/) [Bad Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bad-religion/) [Browse all 168 Destroys quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destroys/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "That which destroys the old mythos becomes the new mythos.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert M. Pirsig" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/that-which-destroys-the-old-mythos-becomes-the-new-mythos/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Destroys" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/that-which-destroys-the-old-mythos-becomes-the-new-mythos/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/robert-m-pirsig-817_destroys_that-which-destroys-the-old-mythos-becom_2353113.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/robert-m-pirsig-817_destroys_that-which-destroys-the-old-mythos-becom_2353113.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/185/robert-m-pirsig-817_destroys_that-which-destroys-the-old-mythos-becom_2353113.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“That which destroys the old mythos becomes the new mythos.” — Robert M. Pirsig", "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": "Robert M. Pirsig", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "That which destroys the old mythos...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/that-which-destroys-the-old-mythos-becomes-the-new-mythos/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/that-which-destroys-the-old-mythos-becomes-the-new-mythos/#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 } } ] } ```