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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 individual pleasure. A civilization is born stoic and dies epicurean.

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
Religion
Stoic
Individual
Civilizations
Born
Unbelief
Ends
Pursuit
Begin
Epicurean
Civilization
Stoicism
Pleasure
Undisciplined
Dies
Scepticism

More quotes by Will Durant

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There is no real philosophy until the mind turns around and examines itself.
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If a man is fortunate he will, before he dies, gather up as much as he can of his civilized heritage and transmit it to his children.
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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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Our knowledge is a receding mirage in an expanding desert of ignorance.
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Christianity did not destroy paganism it adopted it.
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The victors called the revolution a triumph of liberty but now and then liberty in the slogans of the strong means freedom from restraint in the exploitation of the weak.
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The finger that turns the dial rules the air.
Will Durant
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Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos.
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Tolerance grows only when faith loses certainty certainty is murderous.
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Cultivate your garden. Do not depend upon teachers to educate you... follow your own bent, pursue your curiosity bravely, express yourself, make your own harmony.
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Nothing is often a good thing to do and always a good thing to say.
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Fundamentalism is the triumph of Paul over Christ.
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Tired mothers find that spanking takes less time than reasoning and penetrates sooner to the seat of the memory.
Will Durant
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As to harmonizing the theory of evolution with the Biblical account of creation, I do not believe it can be done, and I do not see why it should be. The story of Genesis is beautiful, and profoundly significant as symbolism: there is no good reason to torture it into conformity with modern theory.
Will Durant
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That a few simple men should in one generation have invented so powerful and appealing a personality, so lofty ethic, and so inspiring a vision of human brotherhood, would be a miracle far more incredible than any recorded in the Gospels.
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Bankers know that history is inflationary and that money is the last thing a wise man will hoard
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Which is now a more hopeful statement than Swift intended it to be.
Will Durant
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From barbarism to civilization requires a century from civilization to barbarism needs but a day.
Will Durant
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How much more suffering is caused by the thought of death than by death itself.
Will Durant
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A cat has a reputation to protect. If it had a halo, it would be worn cocked to one side.
Will Durant