--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reduced to a miserable mass level, the…" description: "\"Reduced to a miserable mass level, the level of a Hitler, German Romanticism broke out into hysterical barbarism.\" — Thomas Mann" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/thomas-mann-1103_barbarism_reduced-to-a-miserable-mass-level-the-le_2411797.jpg" --- # Reduced to a miserable mass level, the level of a Hitler… ![“Reduced to a miserable mass level, the level of a Hitler, German Romanticism broke out into hysterical barbarism.” quote by Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/thomas-mann-1103_barbarism_reduced-to-a-miserable-mass-level-the-le_2411797.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/thomas-mann-1103_barbarism_reduced-to-a-miserable-mass-level-the-le_2411797.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/thomas-mann-1103_barbarism_reduced-to-a-miserable-mass-level-the-le_2411797.jpg) > “Reduced to a miserable mass level, the level of a Hitler, German Romanticism broke out into hysterical barbarism.” [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The collapse of refined culture can descend into chaotic brutality, illustrating how artistic decay leads to moral collapse. **In simple terms:** Artistic decline can cause barbaric outcomes. Key Takeaway Preserve cultural integrity. Themes culture decline barbarism artistic responsibility Mood somber critical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - education reform - art funding - media criticism Key Concepts Aesthetics historical cycles moral philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How can societies prevent cultural decay? - What role does art play in moral stability? A Different Perspective Not all cultural shifts are negative; null. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Barbarism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarism/) [Broke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broke/) [German Romanticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/german-romanticism-4186656/) [Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hitler/) [Hysterical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hysterical/) [Hysterical Barbarism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hysterical-barbarism-6074479/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Level Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/level-hitler-6074481/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Miserable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miserable/) [Romanticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romanticism/) [Romanticism Broke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romanticism-broke-6074480/) ## Related quotes > [“The mountain panorama was the backdrop to every photo taken here, the backdrop to everything. At first Ursula had thought it beautiful, now she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/the-mountain-panorama-was-the-backdrop-to-every-photo-taken-here-the/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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 Mann > [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“Solitude favors the original, the daringly and otherworldly beautiful, the poem. But it also favors the wrongful, the extreme, the absurd, and the forbidden.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-favors-the-original-the-daringly-and-otherworldly-beautiful/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“But what would be our readers’ reaction if we simply refused to get to the bottom of that question?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/but-what-would-be-our-readers-reaction-if-we-simply-refused-to-get-to/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [What good would politics be, if it didn’t give everyone the opportunity to make moral compromises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/what-good-would-politics-be-if-it-didn-t-give-everyone-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“O, čarobna organsko lepoto, koja se ne sastojiš ni iz uljane boje ni iz kamena, već iz materije žive i raspadljive, pune grozničave tajne…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/o-arobna-organsko-lepoto-koja-se-ne-sastoji-ni-iz-uljane-boje-ni-iz/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [Opinions cannot survive if one has no chance to fight for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/opinions-cannot-survive-if-one-has-no-chance-to-fight-for-them/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“I hope that you have nothing against malice, my good engineer. In my eyes it is the brightest sword that reason has against the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/i-hope-that-you-have-nothing-against-malice-my-good-engineer-in-my/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“...only the exhaustive can be truly interesting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/only-the-exhaustive-can-be-truly-interesting/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“The days began to fly now, and yet each one of them was stretched by renewed expectations and swollen with silent, private experiences. Yes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/the-days-began-to-fly-now-and-yet-each-one-of-them-was-stretched-by/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“The average man thinks that a little falseness goes with beauty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/the-average-man-thinks-that-a-little-falseness-goes-with-beauty/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“A stimulus is a stimulus. The body doesn't give a damn about the meaning of the stimulus. Whether minnows or communion, the sebaceous glands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/a-stimulus-is-a-stimulus-the-body-doesn-t-give-a-damn-about-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [It is remarkable how a man cannot summarize his thoughts in even the most general sort of way without betraying himself completely, without putting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/it-is-remarkable-how-a-man-cannot-summarize-his-thoughts-in-even-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [“One always needs to be reminded; one is by no means always in possession of one’s whole self. Our consciousness is feeble; only in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/one-always-needs-to-be-reminded-one-is-by-no-means-always-in/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [Everything is politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/everything-is-politics/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [Is not life in itself a thing of goodness, irrespective of whether the course it takes for us can be called a 'happy' one?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/is-not-life-in-itself-a-thing-of-goodness-irrespective-of-whether-the/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Explore all 239 Thomas Mann quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) ## 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": "Reduced to a miserable mass level, the level of a Hitler, German Romanticism broke out into hysterical barbarism.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thomas Mann" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/reduced-to-a-miserable-mass-level-the-level-of-a-hitler-german/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Barbarism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/reduced-to-a-miserable-mass-level-the-level-of-a-hitler-german/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/thomas-mann-1103_barbarism_reduced-to-a-miserable-mass-level-the-le_2411797.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/thomas-mann-1103_barbarism_reduced-to-a-miserable-mass-level-the-le_2411797.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/539/thomas-mann-1103_barbarism_reduced-to-a-miserable-mass-level-the-le_2411797.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Reduced to a miserable mass level, the level of a Hitler, German Romanticism broke out into hysterical…” — Thomas Mann", "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 Mann", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Reduced to a miserable mass level,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/reduced-to-a-miserable-mass-level-the-level-of-a-hitler-german/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/reduced-to-a-miserable-mass-level-the-level-of-a-hitler-german/#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 } } ] } ```