Civilization Quotes

2122 Civilization quotes by 1210 unique authors

The spirit of playful competition is, as a social impulse, older than culture itself and pervades all life like a veritable ferment. Ritual grew up… — Johan Huizinga
The history of our civilization has been one of intermittent war. — John Boyd Orr
Our civilization is now in the transition stage between the age of warring empires and a new age of world unity and peace. — John Boyd Orr
It seemed so illogical to punish some poor criminal for doing something that civilization taught him how to do so he could have something that… — Chester Himes
A civilization without retail bookstores is unimaginable. Like shrines and other sacred meeting places, bookstores are essential artifacts of human nature. The feel of a… — Jason Epstein
All over the world the wildlife that I write about is in grave danger. It is being exterminated by what we call the progress of… — Gerald Durrell
Hysteria and degeneration have always existed; but they formerly showed themselves sporadically, and had no importance in the life of the whole community. It was… — Max Nordau
Civilization is built on a number of ultimate principles... respect for human life, the punishment of crimes against property and persons, the equality of all… — Max Nordau
Is civilization only a higher form of idolatry, that man should bow down to a flesh-brush, to flannels, to baths, diet, exercise, and air? — Mary Baker Eddy
Big bang cosmology is probably as widely believed as has been any theory of the universe in the history of Western civilization. It rests, however,… — Unknown Author
If man--if each one of us--abdicates his responsibilities with regard to values; if each one of us limits himself to leading a trivial existence in… — Jacques Ellul
Technical civilization has made a great error in not suppressing death, the only human reality still intact — Jacques Ellul
Civilization is not necessary before Christianity; do both together if you will, but you will find civilization follow Christianity more easily than Christianity follow civilization. — Samuel Marsden
We have a system which, though far from perfect, is strong with idealism. It gives elbow room for men of all races and all beliefs.… — William O. Douglas
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… — Arnold J. Toynbee
[H]istory assures us that civilizations decay quite leisurely. — Will Durant
In the midst of our applauding the feats of civilization, the Bible flings itself like a knife slashing our complacency; remind us that God, too,… — Abraham Joshua Heschel
The final test of religious faith... is whether it will enable men to endure insecurity without complacency or despair, whether it can so interpret the… — Reinhold Niebuhr
Now for good or ill, California is the place where trends tend to be set in Western civilization - if civilization indeed it is. California,… — P.J. O'Rourke
Here we are at the edge of the world, the very edge of Western civilization, and all of us are so desperate to feel something,… — M.I.A.
I think love is the most unbelievable, and critical, thing in civilization. Everything else is very mechanical and predictable, but love, you can't catch it. — Ambrose Bierce
It's too hard a life for me. I could only do it - check out in that sense - if I checked out somewhere that… — Derek Jacobi
Well, we can't afford blindness anymore. There are tens of thousands of thugs who loathe liberty and love death, and want to annihilate Western civilization. — Tony Snow
It was the transmutation of the classical liberal intellectual foundation by Christianity that gave modern Europe its impetus and that pushed European accomplishment so far… — Charles A. Murray
Art is humanity's most essential, most universal language. It is not a frill, but a necessary part of communication. The quality of civilization can be… — Ernest L. Boyer

Who Wrote These Civilization Quotes

1,210 authors contributed a total of 2,122 Civilization Quotes, led by these top contributors: