"We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs"
About this Quote
The intent is preventative. Clark isn’t moralizing against skepticism; he’s indicting the kind of fashionable despair that passes for sophistication. Cynicism flatters the speaker: it promises you’ll never be fooled again, never risk being earnest, never have to be disappointed. Disillusion sounds like maturity, as if losing faith is the same as gaining wisdom. Clark’s subtext is harsher: once a society treats commitment as naivete, it hollows out the very motivations that make collective life possible. Institutions still stand, but the spirit that animates them goes missing.
The rhetorical trick is the equivalence. By putting a psychological posture on the same level as warfare, he upgrades mood into consequence. He’s writing in the shadow of the 20th century, when Europe learned that destruction isn’t only a matter of rubble; it’s also a matter of resignation, the slow drift into “nothing matters” politics. The line doubles as cultural criticism: if you want to know how a civilization dies, don’t just count the missiles. Listen for the shrug.
Quote Details
| Topic | Peace |
|---|---|
| Source | Evidence: It is lack of confidence, more than anything else, that kills a civilisation. We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs. (Chapter 13, "Heroic Materialism"; commonly cited as p. 347 in the 1969 London edition). The quote is from Kenneth Clark's own work, not a later compilation. Multiple secondary references consistently place it in Chapter 13, "Heroic Materialism," of Civilisation: a Personal View. Open Library identifies the first British edition as 1969, published by the British Broadcasting Corporation, and lists the chapter structure including "Heroic materialism." A later scholarly citation also gives the location as p. 347 of the 1969 London edition. The wording with British spelling, "civilisation," appears to be the original book form. Because Civilisation was also a 1969 BBC television series prepared in parallel with the book, it may also have been spoken in the final episode, but the earliest verifiable primary source I could confirm is the 1969 book edition. Other candidates (1) What Can You Believe If You Don't Believe In God? (Michael Werner, 2018) compilation95.0% ... Kenneth Clark warned us, “It is lack of confidence, more than anything else, that kills a civilization. We can de... |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Clark, Kenneth. (2026, March 8). We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-can-destroy-ourselves-by-cynicism-and-156495/
Chicago Style
Clark, Kenneth. "We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs." FixQuotes. March 8, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-can-destroy-ourselves-by-cynicism-and-156495/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs." FixQuotes, 8 Mar. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-can-destroy-ourselves-by-cynicism-and-156495/. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
