A statesman cannot afford to be a moralist. Will Durant More Quotes by Will Durant More Quotes From Will Durant Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is what happened on the banks. Will Durant faithmotivationallove The failure of the Reformation to capture France had left for Frenchmen no half-way house between infallibility and infidelity; and while the intellect of Germany and England moved leisurely in the lines of religious evolution, the mind of France leaped from the hot faith which had massacred the Huguenots to the cold hostility with which La Mettrie, Helvetius, Holbach, and Diderot turned upon the religion of the fathers. Will Durant religioushousefather Every state begins in compulsion; but the habits of obedience become the content of conscience, and soon every citizen thrills with loyalty to the flag. The citizen is right; for however the state begins, it soon becomes an indispensable prop to order. Will Durant societyloyaltyorder Civilization is social order promoting cultural creation. Four elements constitute it: economic provision, political organization, moral tradition, and the pursuit of knowledge and the arts. It begins where chaos and insecurity end. For when fear is overcome, curiosity and constructiveness are free, and man passes by natural impulse towards the understanding and embellishment of life. Will Durant menorderart The ego is willing but the machine cannot go on. It's the last thing a man will admit, that his mind ages. Will Durant egomindmen Art lies in conceiving and designing, not in the actual execution' - this was left for lesser minds. Will Durant designlyingart In the end, nothing is lost. Every event, for good or evil, has effects forever. Will Durant eventsevilforever [H]istory assures us that civilizations decay quite leisurely. Will Durant decayapathycivilization If a man is fortunate he will, before he dies, gather up as much as he can of his civilized heritage and transmit it to his children. Will Durant heritagemenchildren All deductions having been made, democracy has done less harm, and more good, than any other form of government. It gave to human existence a zest and camaraderie that outweighed its pitfalls and defects. It gave to thought and science and enterprise the freedom essential to their operation and growth. It broke down the walls of privilege and class, and in each generation it raised up ability from every rank and place. Will Durant democracies-havewallgovernment Moral codes adjust themselves to environmental conditions. Will Durant moral-codeenvironmentalmorality History seldom destroys that which does not deserve to die; and the burning of the tares makes for the next sowing a richer soil. Will Durant sowingburningdoe by and large the poor have the same impulses as the rich, with only less opportunity or skill to implement them Will Durant richskillsopportunity Never put a man in the wrong. He will hold it against you forever. Will Durant forevermen As to harmonizing the theory of evolution with the Biblical account of creation, I do not believe it can be done, and I do not see why it should be. The story of Genesis is beautiful, and profoundly significant as symbolism: there is no good reason to torture it into conformity with modern theory. Will Durant biblicalbeautifulbelieve Our knowledge is a receding mirage in an expanding desert of ignorance. Will Durant miragesdesertignorance All that is good in our history is gathered in libraries. At this moment, Plato is down there at the library waiting for us. So is Aristotle. Spinoza is there and so is Kats. Shelly and Byron adn Sam Johnson are there waiting to tell us their magnificent stories. All you have to do is walk in the library door and the great company open their arms to you. They are so happy to see you that they come out with you into the street and to your home. And they do what hardly any friend will-- they are silent when you wish to think. Will Durant platohomethinking There is no real philosophy until the mind turns around and examines itself. Will Durant realmindphilosophy If I were rich I would have many books, and I would pamper myself with bindings bright to the eye and soft to the touch, paper generously opaque, and type such as men designed when printing was very young. I would dress my gods in leather and gold, and burn candles of worship before them at night, and string their names like beads on a string. Will Durant eyenightbook So prominent was the Jewish role in the foreign commerce of Europe that those nations that received the Jews gained and the countries that excluded them lost in the volume of international trade. Will Durant roleseuropecountry
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