“The lack of a sense of history is the damnation of the modern world.”

— Robert Penn Warren

The quote "The lack of a sense of history is the damnation of the modern world." is famous quote attributed to Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989), American poet, novelist, and literary critic.

As quoted in Vision and Leadership in Sustainable Development (1999) by Chris Maser.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update April 18, 2023. History

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Robert Penn Warren 49

American poet, novelist, and literary critic 1905–1989

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p. 26

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“What senses do we lack that we cannot see or hear another world all around us?”

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Source: Dune

“The world ceases to be that which is and becomes that which is available.
It is a submissive world that modern man is in the habit of sensing, and he seems content with the riches of thinghood.”

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972) Polish-American Conservative Judaism Rabbi

Source: Who Is Man? (1965), Ch. 5
Context: As a result of letting the drive for power dominate existence, man is bound to lose his sense for nature's otherness. Nature becomes a utensil, an object to be used. The world ceases to be that which is and becomes that which is available.
It is a submissive world that modern man is in the habit of sensing, and he seems content with the riches of thinghood. Space is the limit of his ambitions, and there is little he desires besides it. Correspondingly, mans consciousness recedes more and more in the process of reducing his status to that of a consumer and manipulator. He has enclosed himself in the availability of things, with the shutters down and no sight of what is beyond availability.