"There can be no doubt that the modem environment is changing faster than any environment ever previously changed; therefore, the social center of gravity constantly tends to shift more rapidly; and therefore modem civilization has unprecedented need of the administrative or generalizing mind. I take it to be an axiom, that perfection in administration must be commensurate to the bulk and momentum of the mass to be administered, otherwise the centrifugal will overcome the centripetal force, and the mass will disintegrate. In other words, civilization will dissolve. A moment arrives when the minds of any given dominant type fail to meet the demands made upon them, and are superseded by a younger type, which in tum is set aside by another still younger, until the limit of the administrative genius of that particular race has been reached. Then disintegration sets in, the social momentum is gradually relaxed, and society sinks back to a level at which it can cohere."
React to this quote
More by Brooks Adams
See allResonant Thoughts
"Paris with its wonderful light had relaxed my palette — there were other colors, other entirely new forms, and some that I had used years earlier. Naturally I did all this unconsciously."
"Indeed I scarce ever heard or saw the introductory Words, Without Vanity I may say, etc. but some vain thing immediately follow'd. Most People dislike Vanity in others whatever Share they have of it t…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"Unless we change ourselves as individuals and our culture—the way we relate to the earth—we can’t expect to…"
— John Bellamy Foster"The Society, founded upon the highest ethical and social principles, serves as an example for homosexuals t…"
— Harry Hay"The best way we can define ourselves is as a multi-source civilization, not a single-source one, drawing it…"
— Tony Joseph"When you look at nations today like England, in which great revivals occurred generations ago, there's very…"
— Ken Ham"Capitalism is too complicated a system for a newly independent nation. Hence the need for a socialistic soc…"
— Kwame Nkrumah"In all technologically "advanced" countries, fashion has replaced tradition, so that involuntary membership…"
— W. H. Auden
Related Thinkers
Related Topics
Deep Dives
- Thomas Carlyle on society
- Aristotle on society
- Immanuel Kant on society
- Michel de Montaigne on society
- Epictetus on society
- Friedrich Nietzsche on life
- Friedrich Nietzsche on truth
- Friedrich Nietzsche on philosophy
- Friedrich Nietzsche on time
- Friedrich Nietzsche on knowledge
- knowledge & Beauty
- knowledge & Change
