Civilization degrades the many to exalt the few.
- A'Quonesia FranklinCivilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos.
- Will DurantCivilization is a method of living, an attitude of equal respect for all men.
- Abu MusaThe more rapidly a civilization progresses, the sooner it dies for another to rise in its place.
- Havelock EllisAmerica is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.
- Oscar WildeOne of the indictments of civilizations is that happiness and intelligence are so rarely found in the same person.
- Agin MuhammadCivilization is built on a number of ultimate principles...respect for human life, the punishment of crimes against property and persons, the equality of all good citizens before the law...or, in a word justice.
- Adam SelzerI know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.
- Albert EinsteinIt has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.
- Albert EinsteinTo be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level.
- Bertrand RussellCivilization and profit go hand in hand.
- Calvin CoolidgeFor me, politeness is a sine qua non of civilization.
- Robert A. HeinleinCivilization begins with order, grows with liberty and dies with chaos
- Will DurantYou can`t say that civilization don`t advance, however, for in every war they kill you in a new way.
- Will RogersYou can`t say civilization don`t advance... in every war they kill you in a new way.
- Will RogersCivilization will not last, freedom will not survive, peace will not be kept, unless a very large majority of mankind unite together to defend them and show themselves possessed of a constabulary power before which barbaric and atavistic forces will
- Winston ChurchillA culture is made -- or destroyed -- by its articulate voices.
- Ayn RandBe civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few.
- Benjamin FranklinNewspapers are unable, seemingly to discriminate between a bicycle accident and the collapse of civilization
- George Bernard ShawWe veneer civilization by doing unkind things in a kind way
- George Bernard ShawHospitals are only an intermediate stage of civilization
- Florence NightingaleThe end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.
- Ralph Waldo EmersonThe civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.
- Ralph Waldo EmersonThat`s here. That`s home. That`s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every `superstar,` every `supreme leader,` every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
- Dr. Carl SaganWho are we? Where do we come from? Why are we this way and not some other? What does it mean to be human? Are we capable, if need be, of fundamental change, or do the dead hands of forgotten ancestors impel us in some direction, indiscriminately for good or ill, and beyond our control? Can we alter our character? Can we improve our societies? Can we leave our children a world better than the one that was left to us? Can we free them from the demons that torment us and haunt our civilization? In the long run, are we wise enough to know what changes to make? Can we be trusted with our own future?
- Dr. Carl SaganChief among our gains must be reckoned this possibility of choice, the recognition of many possible ways of life, where other civilizations give a satisfactory outlet to only one temperamental type, be he mystic or soldier, businessman or artist, a civilization in which there are many standards offers a possibility of satisfactory adjustment to individuals of many different temperamental types, of diverse gifts, and varying interests.
- Margaret MeadIf the battle for civilization comes down to the wimps versus the barbarians, the barbarians are going to win.
- Thomas SowellNations have recently been led to borrow billions for war; no nation has ever borrowed largely for education... no nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both.
- Abraham FlexnerThere is something even more valuable to civilization than wisdom, and that is character
- Henry Louis MenckenWe must plant the sea and herd its animals using the sea as farmers instead of hunters. That is what civilization is all about - farming replacing hunting.
- Simone CousteauNo culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive.
- Mahatma GandhiA nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan.
- Martin Luther KingA civilization in which there is not a continuous controversy about important issues is on the way to totalitarianism and death
- Robert Maynard Hutchins