--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The foundation of empire is art and…" description: "\"The foundation of empire is art and science. Remove them or degrade them, and the empire is no more. Empire follows art and not vice versa as Englishme..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/william-blake-397_art_the-foundation-of-empire-is-art-and-scie_2756668.jpg" --- # The foundation of empire is art and science. Remove them… ![“The foundation of empire is art and science. Remove them or degrade them, and the empire is no more. Empire follows art and not vice versa as Englishmen suppose.” quote by William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/william-blake-397_art_the-foundation-of-empire-is-art-and-scie_2756668.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/william-blake-397_art_the-foundation-of-empire-is-art-and-scie_2756668.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/391/william-blake-397_art_the-foundation-of-empire-is-art-and-scie_2756668.jpg) > “The foundation of empire is art and science. Remove them or degrade them, and the empire is no more. Empire follows art and not vice versa as Englishmen suppose.” [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Argues that art and science are the true foundations of civilization; without them, empires crumble. **In simple terms:** Art and science sustain empires; remove them and they fall. Key Takeaway Preserve and value art and science. Themes civilization art science Mood reflective visionary Type philosophical political When to use this quote - education policy - urban planning - technological development - cultural preservation Key Concepts philosophy history culture Questions to Reflect On - How can societies prioritize art and science today? - What happens when they are neglected? A Different Perspective May idealize art/science over practical governance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art and science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-and-science/) [Degrade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degrade/) [Degrade Empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degrade-empire-3139611/) [Empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empire/) [Empire Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empire-art-2297804/) [Empire Empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empire-empire-2594781/) [Englishmen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/englishmen/) [Foundation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foundation/) [Foundation Empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foundation-empire-3139610/) [Remove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remove/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Vice versa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vice-versa/) ## Related quotes > [With the fall of the empire, Art, Philosophy and decent drains all vanished from the West.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-ward-perkins/with-the-fall-of-the-empire-art-philosophy-and-decent-drains-all/) [Bryan Ward-Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-ward-perkins/) > [We better rethink the position of the United States in the world and whether we want to be an empire. Being an empire puts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/we-better-rethink-the-position-of-the-united-states-in-the-world-and/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [The United States is now The Empire. There isn't an empire; there's The Empire, and that empire is the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ali/the-united-states-is-now-the-empire-there-isn-t-an-empire-there-s-the/) [Tariq Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ali/) > [American Empire- it is an empire that lacks the drive to export its capital, its people and its culture to those backward regions which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/american-empire-it-is-an-empire-that-lacks-the-drive-to-export-its/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [Degrade first the Arts if you'd Mankind Degrade. Hire Idiots to Paint with cold light & hot shade: Give high Price for the worst,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/degrade-first-the-arts-if-you-d-mankind-degrade-hire-idiots-to-paint/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Then my verse I dishonor, my pictures despise, my person degrade and my temper chastise; and the pen is my terror, the pencil my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/then-my-verse-i-dishonor-my-pictures-despise-my-person-degrade-and-my/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [It is the greatest of crimes to depress true art and science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/it-is-the-greatest-of-crimes-to-depress-true-art-and-science/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [He who would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars: general Good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/he-who-would-do-good-to-another-must-do-it-in-minute-particulars-2/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The inquiry in England is not whether a man has talents and genius, but whether he is passive and polite and a virtuous ass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-inquiry-in-england-is-not-whether-a-man-has-talents-and-genius/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Any time you can degrade or take away the top leadership of an organization, it's a positive step forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/any-time-you-can-degrade-or-take-away-the-top-leadership-of-an/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [What more degrades woman today than that she so often seeks marriage as a support? Why is the holy sacrament of love, the sanctity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-c-ames/what-more-degrades-woman-today-than-that-she-so-often-seeks-marriage/) [Mary C. Ames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-c-ames/) > [Psychoanalysis is a technique we practice at our cost; psychoanalysis degrades our risks, our dangers, our depths; it strips us of our impurities, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/psychoanalysis-is-a-technique-we-practice-at-our-cost-psychoanalysis/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [For God to be kept out of the classroom or out of America's public debate by nervous school administrators or overcautious politicians serves no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-gibbs/for-god-to-be-kept-out-of-the-classroom-or-out-of-america-s-public/) [Nancy Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-gibbs/) > [So far as discipline is concerned, freedom means not its absence but the use of higher and more rational forms as contrasted with those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/so-far-as-discipline-is-concerned-freedom-means-not-its-absence-but/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [Money degrades all the gods of man and converts them into commodities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/money-degrades-all-the-gods-of-man-and-converts-them-into-commodities/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) ## More by William Blake > [Poetry fettered, fetters the human race. Nations are destroyed or flourish in proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are destroyed or flourish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/poetry-fettered-fetters-the-human-race-nations-are-destroyed-or/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Where any view of money exists, art cannot be carried on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/where-any-view-of-money-exists-art-cannot-be-carried-on/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [God only acts and is, in existing beings or men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/god-only-acts-and-is-in-existing-beings-or-men/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Kill not the moth nor butterfly, For the Last Judgement draweth nigh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/kill-not-the-moth-nor-butterfly-for-the-last-judgement-draweth-nigh/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The world of imagination is the world of eternity. 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Terror, the human form divine, And secrecy, the human dress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/cruelty-has-a-human-heart-and-jealousy-a-human-face-terror-the-human/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [A dead body revenges not injuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/a-dead-body-revenges-not-injuries/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained; and the restrainer or reason usurps its place & governs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/those-who-restrain-desire-do-so-because-theirs-is-weak-enough-to-be/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [To generalize is to be an idiot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/to-generalize-is-to-be-an-idiot/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [THE POISON TREE I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-poison-tree-i-was-angry-with-my-friend-i-told-my-wrath-my-wrath/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [The bird a nest the spider a web the human friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-bird-a-nest-the-spider-a-web-the-human-friendship/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) [Explore all 592 William Blake quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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