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Magic begins in superstition, and ends in science. ... At every step the history of civilization teaches us how slight and superficial a structure civ...more

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Every civilization is a fruit from the sturdy tree of barbarism, and falls at the greatest distance from its trunk.

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No man is educated for statesmanship who cannot see his time from the perspective of the past.

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[W]orship, if not the child, is at leastthe brother, of fear.

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History is an excellent teacher with few pupils.

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Civilization is the order and freedom is promoting cultural activity.

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It is a mistake to think that the past is dead. Nothing that has ever happened is quite without influence at this moment. The present is merely the pa...more

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Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little on the last six thousand years.

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Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom.

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So I should say that civilizations begin with religion and stoicism: they end with scepticism and unbelief and the undisciplined pursuit of individua...more

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Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.

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The family is the nucleus of civilization.

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One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say.

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A nation is born stoic, and dies epicurean. At its cradle (to repeat a thoughtful adage) religion stands, and philosophy accompanies it to the grave. ...more

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There is hardly an absurdity of the past that cannot be found flourishing somewhere in the present. Underneath all civilization, ancient or modern, mo...more