--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You can't have modern states based on…" description: "\"You can't have modern states based on ideas which have been out of date for a thousand years.\" — Salman Rushdie" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc2/salman-rushdie-153_ideas_you-can-t-have-modern-states-based-on-id_1377259.jpg" --- # You can't have modern states based on ideas which have… ![“You can't have modern states based on ideas which have been out of date for a thousand years.” quote by Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc2/salman-rushdie-153_ideas_you-can-t-have-modern-states-based-on-id_1377259.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc2/salman-rushdie-153_ideas_you-can-t-have-modern-states-based-on-id_1377259.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc2/salman-rushdie-153_ideas_you-can-t-have-modern-states-based-on-id_1377259.jpg) > “You can't have modern states based on ideas which have been out of date for a thousand years.” [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Rushdie argues that outdated ideas cannot sustain modern nation‑states. **In simple terms:** Old ideas can't support modern states. Key Takeaway Update foundational ideas for relevance. Themes politics modernity ideas Mood thought‑provoking critical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - policy reform - education curricula - public discourse - constitutional drafting Key Concepts philosophy statecraft progressivism Questions to Reflect On - What outdated ideas still dominate governance? - How can societies transition to new paradigms? A Different Perspective Changing ideas can be politically contentious and slow. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Based Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/based-ideas-2371921/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern/) [Modern States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern-states-4469746/) [Out](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/out/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [States Based](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states-based-4760599/) [Thousand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand/) [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) [Which](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/which/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [“The priorities of the traditional state were defense, public order, the prevention of epidemics and the aversion of mass discontent. 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An hour may lay it in ruins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/a-thousand-years-may-scare-form-a-state-an-hour-may-lay-it-in-ruins/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [Memory revises me. Even now a letter comes from a place I don’t know, from someone with my name and postmarked years ago, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/memory-revises-me-even-now-a-letter-comes-from-a-place-i-don-t-know/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) ## More by Salman Rushdie > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [It's a terrible thing that your life turns into a good story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/it-s-a-terrible-thing-that-your-life-turns-into-a-good-story/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Sometimes by a woodland stream he watched the water rush over the pebbled bed, its tiny modulations of bounce and flow. A woman's body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/sometimes-by-a-woodland-stream-he-watched-the-water-rush-over-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I want to write novels. I want to write stories. 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I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'd wanted to create a storm so that I could become more famous and richer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-d-wanted-to-create-a-storm-so-that-i-could-become-more-famous-and/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/who-what-am-i-my-answer-i-am-the-sum-total-of-everything-that-went/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“...proving once again that there was no escape from recurrence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/proving-once-again-that-there-was-no-escape-from-recurrence/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“information, in a stream-of-consciousness soliloquy that revealed the extent to which he had internalised the adversarial fragmentation of American culture and made it a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/information-in-a-stream-of-consciousness-soliloquy-that-revealed-the/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . . . not old tales but new ones.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/a-little-bit-of-one-story-joins-onto-an-idea-from-another-and-hey/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I'm a novelist. Fortunately I don't have to rule the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-a-novelist-fortunately-i-don-t-have-to-rule-the-world/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The First Amendment defends all forms of speech including hate speech, which is why groups like Ku Klux Klan are allowed to utter their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/the-first-amendment-defends-all-forms-of-speech-including-hate-speech/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) [Explore all 1,087 Salman Rushdie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) ## More Ideas quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [Companies with cultures that celebrate diverse opinions and encourage the exchange of ideas have an advantage when solving difficult problems. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I've always been fascinated by the idea that there's no such thing as evil; it's all in your point of view. To one group…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-roth/i-ve-always-been-fascinated-by-the-idea-that-there-s-no-such-thing-as/) [Eli Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-roth/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. 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