Barbarians Quote by Dean Koontz

If our civilization is destroyed, it will not be by barbarians from below. Our barbarians come from above.

— Henry Demarest Lloyd

“Perceptive observers saw civilization thinned to a mere veneer, with barbarism surging just beneath the surface, straining for release.”

— Bruce Brander

Fain would we remain barbarians, if our claim to civilization were to be based on the gruesome glory of war.

— Anonymous

“the veneer of civilization is exceedingly thin”

— Karin Tansek

There is certainly a longstanding idea within western culture that civilization is only a thin veneer. As soon as something happens, say a war…

— Rutger Bregman

Civilization is hideously fragile and there's not much between us and the horrors underneath, just about a coat of varnish.

— Anonymous

Civilization largely consists in hiding human nature. When the barbarian learns to hide it we account him enlightened.

— Mark Twain

Civilization creates discontents; barbarism creates quick endings.

— Mason Cooley

Barbarianism is the natural state of mankind. Civilization is unnatural. It is the whim of circumstance. And barbarianism must ultimately triumph

— Robert E. Howard

Barbarism recommences by the excess of civilization.

— Alphonse de Lamartine

If the battle for civilization comes down to the wimps versus the barbarians, the barbarians are going to win.

— Thomas Sowell

I don't think we're crumbling as a civilization, but this is not our finest hour, and it's good to be mindful that we're all…

— Mel Gibson