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Civilization Quotes
"Instead of the former divinely appointed aims of the Jewish, Greek, or Roman nations, which ancient historians regarded as representing the progress of humanity, modern history has postulated its own aims- the welfare of the French, German, or English people, or, in its highest abstraction, the welfare and civilization of humanity in general, by which is usually meant that of the peoples occupying a small northwesterly portion of a large continent."
43
"We may get to the point where the only way of saving the world will be for industrial civilization to collapse."
42
"A civilization is destroyed only when its gods are destroyed."
42
"We must not try to force him to take civilization immediately in its complete form, but under just laws, guaranteeing to Indians equal civil laws, the Indian question, a source of such dishonor to our country and of shame to true patriots, will soon be a thing of the past."
42
"Right now, there's the illusion of order and civilization, but there's a tremendous amount of economic tension in this country and the educational system is constantly eroding."
42
"What I am more concerned about is whether our whole civilization will be around in the next 25 years."
42
"Next to the striking of fire and the discovery of the wheel, the greatest triumph of what we call civilization was the domestication of the human male."
42
"If civilization had been left in female hands we would still be living in grass huts."
41
"Hold fast to the Bible. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization and to this we must look as our guide in the future."
41
"The sovereign state has in our times become a lethal danger to human civilization because technical developments enable it to employ an infinite number and variety of means of destruction."
41
"A civilized man is one who will give a serious answer to a serious question. Civilization itself is a certain sane balance of values."
40
"Morocco as it is is a very fine place spoiled by civilization."
40
"Civilization in its present form hasn't got long."
40
"The center of Western culture is Greece, and we have never lost our ties with the architectural concepts of that ancient civilization."
40
"Civilization had too many rules for me, so I did my best to rewrite them."
40
"Our civilization is still in a middle stage, scarcely beast, in that it is no longer wholly guided by instinct; scarcely human, in that it is not yet wholly guided by reason."
40
"The destiny of world civilization depends upon providing a decent standard of living for all mankind."
40
"It's just a show. It's not the end of Western Civilization. It's chewing gum."
40
"New York... when civilization falls apart, remember, we were way ahead of you."
40
"It is what you do from now on that will either move our civilization forward a few tiny steps, or else... begin to march us steadily backward."
40
"Culture is the tacit agreement to let the means of subsistence disappear behind the purpose of existence. Civilization is the subordination of the latter to the former."
40
"Wherever an altar is found, there civilization exists."
39
"In our rich consumers' civilization we spin cocoons around ourselves and get possessed by our possessions."
39
"A slight daily unconscious luxury is hardly ever wanting to the dwellers in civilization; like the gentle air of a genial climate, it is a perpetual minute enjoyment."
39
"From first to last the civilization of America has been bound up with its physical environment."
39
"The last struggle for our rights, the battle for our civilization, is entirely with ourselves."
39
"Civilization and profit go hand in hand."
39
"Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top."
39
"No doubt Western civilization has in the past been full of wars and revolutions, and the national elements in our culture, even when they were ignored, always provided an unconscious driving force of passion and aggressive self-assertion."
39
"For in this century, within the next decades, will be decided for generations whether all mankind is to become Communist, whether the whole world is to become free, or whether, in the struggle, civilization as we know it is to be completely destroyed or completely changed."
39
"The papacy again, representing the traditional unity of European civilization, has also shown itself unable to limit effectively the push of nationalism."
39
"A new civilization was not to be improvised by a single mind."
39
"Civilization... wrecks the planet from seafloor to stratosphere."
39
"The line of least resistance in the progress of civilization is to make that theoretical postulate real by the continually increasing force of the world's public opinion."
39
"My play is the ultimate expression of my feeling of the twilight of Western civilization."
39
"The collective consciousness of mankind defines the existence and sustainability of this civilization."
39
"The salt of any interesting civilization is mixture."
38
"Back through the ages of barbarism and civilization, in all tongues, we find this instinctive pleasure in the imitative action that is the very essence of all drama."
38
"In the cold, shivering twilight, preceding the daybreak of civilization, the dominating emotion of man was fear."
38
"The evidence of a Jewish civilization going back more than two millennia is overwhelmingly borne out in the archaeology of the region. The heritage of the Jews in Palestine is documented."
38
"Civilization is a youth with a molotov cocktail in his hand. Culture is the Soviet tank or L.A. cop that guns him down."
37
"From the first day to this, sheer greed was the driving spirit of civilization."
37
"Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late."
37
"Barbarians always think of themselves as the bringers of civilization."
37
"The liberty of the individual is no gift of civilization. It was greatest before there was any civilization."
37
"Anglo-Saxon civilization has taught the individual to protect his own rights; American civilization will teach him to respect the rights of others."
36
"Had the Hebrews not been disturbed in their progress a thousand and more years ago, they would have solved all the great problems of civilization which are being solved now under all the difficulties imposed by the spirit of the Middle Ages."
36
"Never had there been such an attempt to make conquest the servant of civilization. About keeping India there is no question. England has a real duty there."
36
"The Lincoln Memorial is related to the toga and the civilization that wore it."
36
"The condition of the tribes which occupy the country set apart for them in the West is highly prosperous, and encourages the hope of their early civilization. They have for the most part abandoned the hunter state and turned their attention to agricultural pursuits."
36
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