--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: letters are not the first, but the last…" description: "\"letters are not the first, but the last step in the progression from barbarism to civilisation.\" — Thomas Jefferson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/thomas-jefferson-43_barbarism_letters-are-not-the-first-but-the-last-s_2312547.jpg" --- # letters are not the first, but the last step in the… ![“letters are not the first, but the last step in the progression from barbarism to civilisation.” quote by Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/thomas-jefferson-43_barbarism_letters-are-not-the-first-but-the-last-s_2312547.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/thomas-jefferson-43_barbarism_letters-are-not-the-first-but-the-last-s_2312547.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/thomas-jefferson-43_barbarism_letters-are-not-the-first-but-the-last-s_2312547.jpg) > “letters are not the first, but the last step in the progression from barbarism to civilisation.” [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Civilization progresses when people move from basic communication to refined, expressive writing, reflecting cultural maturity. **In simple terms:** Writing shows cultural growth. Key Takeaway Cultivate thoughtful writing. Themes civilization communication culture progress Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type educational historical When to use this quote - teaching literacy - public speaking - policy drafting - personal journaling Key Concepts sociolinguistics education historical development Questions to Reflect On - What role does writing play in your community's development? - How can oral traditions complement written progress? A Different Perspective Not all societies prioritize written language equally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Barbarism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarism/) [Civilisation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilisation/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Educational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educational/) [Progression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progression/) ## Related quotes > [People sometimes tell me that they prefer barbarism to civilisation. I doubt if they have given it a long enough trial. Like the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-clark/people-sometimes-tell-me-that-they-prefer-barbarism-to-civilisation-i/) [Kenneth Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-clark/) > [Like other systems in decay, the Roman Empire continued to function for several generations after its vitality was sapped. For nearly a hundred years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/like-other-systems-in-decay-the-roman-empire-continued-to-function/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [As in the fine arts, the progress of mankind from barbarism to civilisation is marked by a gradual succession of triumphs over the rude…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-beeton/as-in-the-fine-arts-the-progress-of-mankind-from-barbarism-to/) [Isabella Beeton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-beeton/) > [ If there is a gratification which I envy any people in this world it is to your country \[Italy\] its music. This is the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/if-there-is-a-gratification-which-i-envy-any-people-in-this-world-it/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [We are destined to be a barrier against the return of ignorance and barbarism. Old Europe will have to lean on our shoulders, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-are-destined-to-be-a-barrier-against-the-return-of-ignorance-and/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [And even should the cloud of barbarism and despotism again obscure the science and libraries of Europe, this country remains to preserve and restore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/and-even-should-the-cloud-of-barbarism-and-despotism-again-obscure/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [What but education has advanced us beyond the condition of our indigenous neighbors? And what chains them to their present state of barbarism and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/what-but-education-has-advanced-us-beyond-the-condition-of-our/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [... legislators cannot invent too many devices for subdividing property... Another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/legislators-cannot-invent-too-many-devices-for-subdividing-property/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. The idea of indefinite progress in a right line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/human-history-like-all-great-movements-was-cyclical-and-returned-to/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations. Man's capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/educational-exchange-can-turn-nations-into-people-contributing-as-no/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [ \[Much\] as war attracts me and fascinates my mind with its tremendous situations, I feel more deeply every year . . . what vile… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/much-as-war-attracts-me-and-fascinates-my-mind-with-its-tremendous/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Christianity has carried civilization along with it, whithersoever it has gone; and, as if to show that the latter does not depend on physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/christianity-has-carried-civilization-along-with-it-whithersoever-it/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [“Odd, don't you think? I have seen war, and invasions and riots. I have heard of massacres and brutalities beyond imagining, and I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-pears/odd-don-t-you-think-i-have-seen-war-and-invasions-and-riots-i-have/) [Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-pears/) > [Liberty is the condition of progress. Without Liberty, there remains only barbarism. Without Liberty, there can be no civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/liberty-is-the-condition-of-progress-without-liberty-there-remains/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [ 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/) ## More by Thomas Jefferson > [A man has a right to use a saw, an axe, a plane, separately; may he not combine their uses on the same piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-man-has-a-right-to-use-a-saw-an-axe-a-plane-separately-may-he-not/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ \[States and the Federal government are\] coordinate departments of one simple and integral whole... The one is the domestic, the other the foreign branch… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/states-and-the-federal-government-are-coordinate-departments-of-one/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-for-freedom-of-religion-and-against-all-maneuvers-to-bring-about/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions, begun at a distinguished period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/single-acts-of-tyranny-may-be-ascribed-to-the-accidental-opinion-of-a/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“Perceiving the order of nature to be that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue, I am willing to hope it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/perceiving-the-order-of-nature-to-be-that-individual-happiness-shall/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/free-government-is-founded-in-jealousy-and-not-in-confidence-it-is/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/though-you-cannot-see-when-you-take-one-step-what-will-be-the-next/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-well-informed-citizenry-is-the-best-defense-against-tyranny/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The two principles on which our conduct towards the Indians should be founded are justice and fear. After the injuries we have done them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-two-principles-on-which-our-conduct-towards-the-indians-should-be/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Knowledge is power...knowled ge is safety...knowle dge is happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/knowledge-is-power-knowled-ge-is-safety-knowle-dge-is-happiness/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is... an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/there-is-an-artificial-aristocracy-founded-on-wealth-and-birth/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/nothing-but-free-argument-raillery-and-even-ridicule-will-preserve/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/when-the-people-are-afraid-of-the-government-that-s-tyranny-but-when/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/we-hold-these-truths-to-be-self-evident-that-all-men-are-created/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) [Explore all 2,098 Thomas Jefferson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) ## More Barbarism 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/) > [Liberty is the condition of progress. Without Liberty, there remains only barbarism. Without Liberty, there can be no civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/liberty-is-the-condition-of-progress-without-liberty-there-remains/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [“Odd, don't you think? I have seen war, and invasions and riots. I have heard of massacres and brutalities beyond imagining, and I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-pears/odd-don-t-you-think-i-have-seen-war-and-invasions-and-riots-i-have/) [Iain Pears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-pears/) > [Christianity has carried civilization along with it, whithersoever it has gone; and, as if to show that the latter does not depend on physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/christianity-has-carried-civilization-along-with-it-whithersoever-it/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [ \[Much\] as war attracts me and fascinates my mind with its tremendous situations, I feel more deeply every year . . . what vile… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/much-as-war-attracts-me-and-fascinates-my-mind-with-its-tremendous/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations. Man's capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/educational-exchange-can-turn-nations-into-people-contributing-as-no/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [Human history, like all great movements, was cyclical, and returned to the point of beginning. The idea of indefinite progress in a right line…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bellamy/human-history-like-all-great-movements-was-cyclical-and-returned-to/) [Edward Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bellamy/) > [You think that a wall as solid as the earth separates civilization from barbarism. I tell you the division is a thread, a sheet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-buchan/you-think-that-a-wall-as-solid-as-the-earth-separates-civilization/) [John Buchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-buchan/) > [Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/barbarism-is-the-absence-of-standards-to-which-appeal-can-be-made/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [“The language of sword is less powerful than the language of word, but most of the people understand the language of sword with greater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kedar-joshi/the-language-of-sword-is-less-powerful-than-the-language-of-word-but/) [Kedar Joshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kedar-joshi/) > [There is so much that must be done in a civilized barbarism like war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-earhart/there-is-so-much-that-must-be-done-in-a-civilized-barbarism-like-war/) [Amelia Earhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-earhart/) > [There is a barbarism in the American soul, and we must protect some of it by law. To root it out is to endanger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-pierce/there-is-a-barbarism-in-the-american-soul-and-we-must-protect-some-of/) [Charlie Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-pierce/) > [In discussing Barbarism and Christianity I have actually been discussing the Fall of Rome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/in-discussing-barbarism-and-christianity-i-have-actually-been/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [What we now want is closer contact and better understanding between individuals and communities all over the earth, and the elimination of egoism and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/what-we-now-want-is-closer-contact-and-better-understanding-between/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [“Magic begins in superstition, and ends in science. ... At every step the history of civilization teaches us how slight and superficial a structure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-durant/magic-begins-in-superstition-and-ends-in-science-at-every-step-the/) [Will Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-durant/) [Browse all 238 Barbarism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "letters are not the first, but the last step in the progression from barbarism to civilisation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Jefferson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/letters-are-not-the-first-but-the-last-step-in-the-progression-from/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Barbarism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/letters-are-not-the-first-but-the-last-step-in-the-progression-from/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/thomas-jefferson-43_barbarism_letters-are-not-the-first-but-the-last-s_2312547.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/thomas-jefferson-43_barbarism_letters-are-not-the-first-but-the-last-s_2312547.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1bc/thomas-jefferson-43_barbarism_letters-are-not-the-first-but-the-last-s_2312547.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“letters are not the first, but the last step in the progression from barbarism to civilisation.” — Thomas Jefferson", "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": "Thomas Jefferson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "letters are not the first, but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/letters-are-not-the-first-but-the-last-step-in-the-progression-from/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/letters-are-not-the-first-but-the-last-step-in-the-progression-from/#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 } } ] } ```