Will Durant Quotes - Page 2

• So I should say that civilizations begin with religion and stoicism: they end with scepticism and unbelief, and the undisciplined pursuit of individual pleasure. A civilization is born stoic and dies epicurean.

  Will Durant

  Civilization, Stoicism, Pleasure

  55 Copy quote

• There is no significant example in history, before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion.

  Will Durant

  Religion, Atheism, Example

  Will Durant, Ariel Durant (2012). “The Lessons of History”, p.38, Simon and Schuster

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• Science without philosophy, facts without perspective and valuation, cannot save us from havoc and despair. Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom.

  Will Durant

  Philosophy, Giving, Perspective

  Will Durant (2012). “Story of Philosophy”, p.28, Simon and Schuster

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• When liberty becomes license, dictatorship is near.

  Will Durant

  Liberty, Dictatorship, License

  Will Durant (2014). “The Complete Story of Civilization: Our Oriental Heritage, Life of Greece, Caesar and Christ, Age of Faith, Renaissance, Age of Reason Begins, Age of Louis XIV, Age of Voltaire, Rousseau and Revolution, Age of Napoleon, Reformation”, p.1983, Simon and Schuster

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• When liberty exceeds intelligence, it begets chaos, which begets dictatorship.

  Will Durant

  Liberty, Chaos, Dictatorship

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• A civilization is born Stoic and dies Epicurean.

  Will Durant

  Civilization, Stoic, Born

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• Can a civilization hold together if man abandons his faith in God?

  Will Durant

  Christian, Religious, Men

  9 Copy quote

• Historically the belief in heaven and the belief in utopia are like compensatory buckets in a well: when one goes down the other comes up. When the classic religions decayed, communistic agitation rose in Athens (430 B.C.), and revolution began in Rome (133 B.C.); when these movements failed, resurrection faiths succeeded, culminating in Christianity; when, in our eighteenth century, Christian belief weakened, communism reappeared. In this perspective the future of religion is secure.

  Will Durant

  Christian, Rome, Perspective

  14 Copy quote

• Liberty is a product of order.

  Will Durant

  Order, Liberty, Products

  24 Copy quote

• The Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilization is a precious good, whose delicate complex of order and freedom, culture and peace, can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading from without or multiplying within.

  Will Durant

  Islamic, Order, Civilization

  "Story of Civilization Our Oriental Heritage". Book by Will Durant, 1935.

  70 Copy quote

• Inquiry is fatal to certainty.

  Will Durant

  Learning, Acceptance, Science

  Will Durant (2011). “The Age of Faith: The Story of Civilization”, p.1077, Simon and Schuster

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• Knowledge is power but only wisdom is liberty.

  Will Durant

  Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding

  Will Durant (1929). “The Mansions of Philosophy: A Survey of Human Life and Destiny”, Garden City, N.Y. : Garden City Publishing Company

  35 Copy quote

• Tired mothers find that spanking takes less time than reasoning and penetrates sooner to the seat of the memory.

  Will Durant

  Mother, Memories, Tired

  33 Copy quote

• Love one another. My final lesson of history is the same as that of Jesus.
  You may think that's a lot of lollipop but just try it. Love is the most practical thing in the world. If you take an attitude of love toward everybody you meet, you'll eventually get along.

  Will Durant

  Life, Jesus, Attitude

  "Durants on History from the Ages, with Love". Pam Proctor, Parade Magazine, August 6, 1978.

  51 Copy quote

• Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos.

  Will Durant

  Order, Civilization, Liberty

  "The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers". Book by Will Durant, 1926.

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• Man is an emotional animal, occasionally rational; and through his feelings he can be deceived to his heart's content.

  Will Durant

  Heart, Animal, Men

  Will Durant (1929). “The Mansions of Philosophy: A Survey of Human Life and Destiny”, Garden City, N.Y. : Garden City Publishing Company

  43 Copy quote

• Truth will not make us rich, but it will make us free.

  Will Durant

  Rich

  Will Durant (2012). “Story of Philosophy”, p.26, Simon and Schuster

  14 Copy quote

• 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

  Art, Men, Order

  Will Durant (2011). “Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization”, p.55, Simon and Schuster

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• Rome remained great as long as she had enemies who forced her to unity, vision, and heroism. When she had overcome them all she flourished for a moment and then began to die.

  Will Durant

  Rome, Long, Unity

  Will Durant (2011). “Caesar and Christ: The Story of Civilization”, p.50, Simon and Schuster

  8 Copy quote

• Never mind your happiness; do your duty.

  Will Durant

  Happiness, Mind, Action

  Will Durant (1991). “The Story of Philosophy”, p.359, Simon and Schuster

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• Contentment is rare among men as it is natural among animals

  Will Durant

  Inspirational, Animal, Men

  Will Durant, Ariel Durant (1944). “The Story of Civilization: Caesar and Christ, a history of Roman civilization and of Christianity from their beginnings to A.D. 325”

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• The future never just happened. It was created.

  Will Durant

  Inspirational, Motivational, Future

  67 Copy quote

• Does history warrant the conclusion that religion is necessary to morality - that a natural ethic is too weak to withstand the savagery that lurks under civilization and emerges in our dreams, crimes and wars? ... There is no significant example in history, before our time, of a society successfully maintaining moral life without the aid of religion.

  Will Durant

  Dream, War, Civilization

  Will Durant, Ariel Durant (2012). “The Lessons of History”, p.38, Simon and Schuster

  39 Copy quote

• It came to me that reform should begin at home, and since that day I have not had time to remake the world.

  Will Durant

  Change, Home, Political

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• Philosophy begins when one learns to doubt -- particularly to doubt one's cherished beliefs, one's dogmas and one's axioms.

  Will Durant

  Philosophy, Doubt, Belief

  Will Durant (2012). “Story of Philosophy”, p.7, Simon and Schuster

  27 Copy quote

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