Wise Words
Civilization
“We must beware of trying to build a society in which nobody counts for anything except a politician or an official, a society where enterprise gains no reward and thrift no privileges.”
Winston Churchill, (1874–1965), British politician, statesman, & orator
“Civilization and profits go hand in hand.”
Calvin Coolidge, (1872–1933), 30th President of the US
“If we would have civilization and the exertion indispensable to its success, we must have property; if we have property, we must have its rights; if we have the rights of property, we must take those consequences of the rights of property which are inseparable from the rights themselves.”
James Fenimore Cooper, (1789–1851), American writer
“A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within. The essential causes of Rome’s decline lay in her people, her orals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars.”
Will Durant, (1885–1981), American writer, historian, & philosopher
“Civilization depends on morality.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, (1803–1882), American essayist, philosopher, & poet
“The true civilization is where every man gives to every other every right that he claims for himself.”
Robert Ingersoll, (1833–1899), American political leader & orator
“If we lose the virile, manly qualities, and sink into a nation of mere hucksters, putting gain over national honor, and subordinating everything to mere ease of life, then we shall indeed reach a condition worse than that of the ancient civilizations in the years of their decay.”
Theodore Roosevelt, (1858–1919), 26th President of the US
“Civilizations decline when they stop believing in themselves; ours has thrived because we have never lost our conviction that our values are worth defending.”
George Shultz, American economist, statesman, & businessman
“If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.”
Thomas Sowell, American economist, social commentator, & author
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.”
Arnold J. Toynbee, (1889–1975), British historian
“Civilizations, I believe, come to birth and proceed to grow by success fully responding to successive challenges. They break down and go to pieces if and when a challenge confronts them which they fail to meet.” “Now civilizations, I believe, come to birth and proceed to grow by successfully responding to successive challenges. They break down and go to pieces if and when a challenge confronts them which they fail to meet.”
Arnold J. Toynbee, (1889–1975), British historian
“Civilizations can only be understood by those who are civilized.”
Alfred North Whitehead, (1861–1947), English mathematician & philosopher
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