Civilization QuotesLiberty is so great a magician, endowed with so marvelous a power of productivity, that under the inspiration of this spirit alone, North America was able within less than a century to equal, and even surpass, the civilization of Europe.  Business is globalizing so fast that it has led to the often quoted clash of civilizations. People simply have not had time to get to know and understand people of other cultures sufficiently to live and work in harmony. The writer, the actor, the musician, the filmmaker - they have become radiant jewels in the crown of modern civilization. I trust the time is nigh when, with the universal assent of civilized people, all international differences shall be determined without resort to arms by the benignant processes of civilization. There can be no doubt that our descendants will learn to exploit the energy of fusion for peaceful purposes even before its use becomes necessary for the preservation of human civilization. The civilization of the West, which was brilliant by virtue of its scientific perfection for a long time, and which subjugated the whole world with the products of this science to its states and nations, is now bankrupt and in decline. There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism. This is not a clash between civilisations. It is a clash about civilisation. Nothing embitters my old age [like] the circulation of absurd stories that I retire as civilization advances, that I shun the white men and seek the Indians, and that now even when old, I seek to retire beyond the second Alleganies. No people ever did or ever can attain a worthy civilization by the satisfaction merely of material needs . . . This is a lovely world, he sighed. And yet it has suffered horror. Sometimes, so-called civilization seems bent on destroying those very things which it is sworn to protect. Every marvel of our age arose out of the critical give and take of an open society. No other civilization ever managed to incorporate this crucial innovation, weaving it into daily life. And if you disagree with this ... say so! At first glance, My Super Sweet 16 appears to be a sugary bit of reality drizzle about some irritating American brats, but the more you watch it the more you realize its actually a stonehearted expos of everything thats wrong with our faltering so-called civilization. Okay, so what we really have to recognize and own as Americans is that our way of being is itself perhaps the greatest threat to the continuation of civilization. We used to build civilizations. Now we build shopping malls. |
