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So the story of man runs in a dreary circle, because he is not yet master of the earth that holds him.

Will Durant

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Will Durant
Age: 96 †
Born: 1885
Born: November 5
Died: 1981
Died: November 7
Historian
Philosopher
Writer
North Adams
Massachusetts
William James Will Durant
William James Durant
Stories
Circle
Earth
Runs
Men
Holds
Circles
Master
Masters
Story
Running
Dreary

More quotes by Will Durant

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The South creates the civilizations, the North conquers them, ruins them, borrows from them, spreads them: this is one summary of history.
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To rulers religion, like almost everything else, is a tool of power.
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Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom.
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Fundamentalism is the triumph of Paul over Christ.
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In my youth I stressed freedom, and in my old age I stress order. I have made the great discovery that liberty is a product of order.
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Friends are helpful not only because they will listen to us, but because they will laugh at us Through them we learn a little objectivity, a little modesty, a little courtesy We learn the rules of life and become better players of the game
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If man asks for many laws it is only because he is sure that his neighbor needs them privately he is an unphilosophical anarchist, and thinks laws in his own case superfluous.
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Can a civilization hold together if man abandons his faith in God?
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If I were rich I would have many books, and I would pamper myself with bindings bright to the eye and soft to the touch, paper generously opaque, and type such as men designed when printing was very young. I would dress my gods in leather and gold, and burn candles of worship before them at night, and string their names like beads on a string.
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For you will sorely miss civilization if it is sacrificed in the turbulence of change.
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Destroy it. There may be a redistribution of the land, but the natural inequality of men soon re-creates an inequality of possessions and privileges, and raises to power a new minority with essentially the same instincts as the old.
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Perhaps it is one secret of their power that, having studied the fluctuations of prices, the [bankers] know that history is inflationary.
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The experience of the past lives little doubt that every economic system must sooner or later rely upon some form of the profit motive to stir individuals and groups to productivity. Substitutes like slavery, police supervision, or ideological enthusiasm prove too unproductive, too expensive, or too transient.
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Read, think well of mankind, go to our libraries and rejoice.
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Who will dare to write a history of human goodness?
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Philosophy is harmonized knowledge making a harmonious life it is the self-discipline which lifts us to serenity and freedom. Knowledge is power, but only wisdom is liberty.
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We have conferred a mystic popularity upon officials whose only virtue is their timidity while our scorn of rebels and reformers is so great that we have ceased to persecute them. The capitals and governments of the world are in the hands of caution and change comes over them only in the night, unseen.
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Power dements even more than it corrupts, lowering the guard of foresight and raising the haste of action.
Will Durant
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In its youth a people produce mythology and poetry in its decadence, philosophy and logic.
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Nature smiles at the union of freedom and equality in our utopias. For freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies.
Will Durant