Skip to content
Shawords

Quote#Art

Can we ring the bells backward? Can we unlearn the arts that pretend…

Quote byCharles Lamb · 1775–1834

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Letter to George Dyer (20 December 1830).

English (original)

Can we ring the bells backward? Can we unlearn the arts that pretend to civilize, and then burn the world? There is a march of science; but who shall beat the drums for its retreat?

— Charles Lamb

3.6K

More from Charles Lamb