--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Civilization is unbearable, but it is…" description: "\"Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top.\" — Timothy Leary" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a9/timothy-leary-2431_civilization_civilization-is-unbearable-but-it-is-les_805179.png" --- # Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at… ![“Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top.” quote by Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a9/timothy-leary-2431_civilization_civilization-is-unbearable-but-it-is-les_805179.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a9/timothy-leary-2431_civilization_civilization-is-unbearable-but-it-is-les_805179.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a9/timothy-leary-2431_civilization_civilization-is-unbearable-but-it-is-les_805179.png) > “Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top.” [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society is harsh, yet those at the top experience comparatively less suffering. **In simple terms:** Life is tough, but elites suffer less. Key Takeaway Recognize privilege and its impact on hardship. Themes social hierarchy suffering privilege existence Mood critical thought‑provoking Type philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - Wealth management - mental health support - social activism - policy advocacy Key Concepts Philosophy of inequality existentialism social critique Questions to Reflect On - How does privilege shape perception of suffering? - What responsibilities do the privileged have? A Different Perspective The statement can overlook systemic oppression of lower classes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/society/) ## Related quotes > [Most of life is unbearable. It’s unbearable but we bear it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-beddor/most-of-life-is-unbearable-it-s-unbearable-but-we-bear-it/) [Frank Beddor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-beddor/) > [All ballet galas are unbearable, but they're unbearable in different ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-gottlieb/all-ballet-galas-are-unbearable-but-they-re-unbearable-in-different/) [Robert Gottlieb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-gottlieb/) > [“The agony is unbearable. Unbearable and endless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-early/the-agony-is-unbearable-unbearable-and-endless/) Alan Early > [This extraordinary metal, the soul of every manufacture, and the mainspring perhaps of civilised society. Of iron.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/this-extraordinary-metal-the-soul-of-every-manufacture-and-the/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [I think that the global consciousness concerning all those elements that produce tension, fractions of societies, is changing in the sense that we all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilberto-gil/i-think-that-the-global-consciousness-concerning-all-those-elements/) [Gilberto Gil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilberto-gil/) > [“I may now add that civilization is a process in the service of Eros, whose purpose is to combine single human individuals, and after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/i-may-now-add-that-civilization-is-a-process-in-the-service-of-eros/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > ["Civilization" has been thrust upon me since the days of the reservations, and it has not added one whit to my sense of justice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luther-standing-bear/civilization-has-been-thrust-upon-me-since-the-days-of-the/) [Luther Standing Bear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luther-standing-bear/) > [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [We civilizations now know ourselves mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/we-civilizations-now-know-ourselves-mortal/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to rewrite them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-cosby/civilization-had-too-many-rules-for-me-so-i-did-my-best-to-rewrite/) [Bill Cosby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-cosby/) > [The first requisite of civilization is that of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-first-requisite-of-civilization-is-that-of-justice/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [“Spiritual activity, education, civilization, culture, the idea are all vague, indefinite concepts, under the banner of which it is quite convenient to use words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/spiritual-activity-education-civilization-culture-the-idea-are-all/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [When you study history and look at every civilization that has grown up and died off, they all leave one remnant: a major sports…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-study-history-and-look-at-every-civilization-that-has-grown/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) ## More by Timothy Leary > [You are a God Act like one!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/you-are-a-god-act-like-one/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Psychedelic drugs cause paranoia, confusion, and total loss of reality in politicians that have never taken them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/psychedelic-drugs-cause-paranoia-confusion-and-total-loss-of-reality/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Tune in, turn on, and drop out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/tune-in-turn-on-and-drop-out/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [The most important thing you do in your life is to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/the-most-important-thing-you-do-in-your-life-is-to-die/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [The aim of human life is to know thyself. Think for yourself. Question authority. Think with your friends. Create, create new realities. Philosophy is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/the-aim-of-human-life-is-to-know-thyself-think-for-yourself-question/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Learning how to operate a soul figures to take time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/learning-how-to-operate-a-soul-figures-to-take-time/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [At the peak of his scientific triumphs, Newton became a 'head,' a student of the inner spiritual world - or in modern terms, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/at-the-peak-of-his-scientific-triumphs-newton-became-a-head-a-student/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [When you teach someone how to perform creatively (ie, associate dead symbols in new combinations), you expand his potential for experiencing more widely and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/when-you-teach-someone-how-to-perform-creatively-ie-associate-dead/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [In the Eleusinian mysteries, they would always warn people, "if you go in here, your ego will die. 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It merely acts as a chemical key — it opens the mind, frees the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/of-course-the-drug-does-not-produce-the-transcendent-experience-it/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [Seven million people I turned on, and only one hundred thousand have come by to thank me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/seven-million-people-i-turned-on-and-only-one-hundred-thousand-have/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) [Explore all 165 Timothy Leary quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [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/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. 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