Quotes from The Story of Civilization

“In the end, nothing is lost. Every event, for good or evil, has effects forever.”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“History is mostly guessing, the rest is prejudice.”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“One of the lessons of history is that the gods can be silent in many languages.”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“قوة التقاليد تتناسب تناسباً عكسياً مع كثرة القوانين، كما أن قوة الغريزة تتناسب تناسباً عكسياً مع كثرة الأفكار”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“لأن الحب أمر ليس له وجود لأنه لما كانت العلاقة الجنسية أمراً مباحاً قبل الزواج، فإن عاطفة الرجل لا تجد من السدود ما يختزنها، وقلما يكون لها أثر في اختيار الزوجة؛ وللسبب نفسه، أعني تلاحق الشهوة وتنفيذها بغير فاصل من زمن، ليس لديهم ما يبرر أن يجلس الشاب مفكراً في طوية نفسه، في عاطفته التي احتبست في صدره والتي من أجل احتباسها أخذت تُزَين له الحبيب المُشتَهَى، مما يؤدي عادةً إلى الحب العاطفي عند الشباب؛ إن مثل هذا الحب وظهوره مرهون بالمدنية التي أقامت الأخلاق سدودا أمام الشهوة”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“ليس هو الجنس العظيم الذي يصنع المدنيّة بل المدينة العظيمة هي التي تخلق الشعوب، لأن الظروف الجغرافية والاقتصادية تخلق ثقافته، والثقافة تخلق النمط الذي يصاغ عليه.”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“In this loose structure law was weak, unpopular, and diverse. The people preferred to be ruled by custom, and to settle their disputes by face-saving compromises out of court. They expressed their view of litigation by such pithy proverbs as “Sue a flea and catch a bite,” or “Win your lawsuit, lose your money.”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“المدنية ليست إلا فترة عارضة موقوتة تتخلل وحشية الغابات”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“المدنية ليست شيئاً مجبولاً في فطرة الإنسان، كلا ولا هي شيء يستعصي على الفناء، إنما هي شيء لا بد أن يكتسبه كل جيل من الأجيال اكتساباً جديداً، فإذا ما حدث اضطراب خطير في عواملهاالاقتصادية أو في طرائق انتقالها من جيل إلى جيل فقد يكون عاملاً على فنائها.”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“ذلك أن الإنسان إذا ما بدأ يفكر في غده فقد خرج بذلك من جنة عدن إلى وادي الهموم، وحَلّت به صُفرة الغم، وهاهنا يشتد الجشع وتبدأ الملكية، ويزول البشر المتهلل الذي يعرفه الانسان الاول "الخلي من كل تفكير".”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“إذا ما حكمنا على العظمة بما كان للعظيم من أثرٍ في الناس ؛ قلنا إن محمداً [ صلى الله عليه وسلم ] كان من أعظم عظماء التاريخ”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“إن المتطرفين في عصر من العصور هم أنفسهم الرجعيون في العصر الذي يليه”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“إنه لواجب علينا أن يحترم كلًا منا أوهام الآخر”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“versions of Hippocrates’ Prognostics, Galen On Foods, and”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

“if you are alone, you are all your own; with a companion you are half yourself; so you squander yourself according to the indiscretion of your company.”
― Will Durant, quote from The Story of Civilization

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Popular quotes

“As you can see,” Daisy said, “one glass is filled with soap water, one with clear, and one with blue laundry water. The other, of course, is empty. The glasses will predict what kind of man you will marry.”

They watched as Evie felt carefully for one of the glasses. Dipping her finger into the soap water, Evie
waited for her blindfold to be drawn off, and viewed the results with chagrin, while the other girls erupted with giggles.

“Choosing the soap water means she will marry a poor man,” Daisy explained.
Wiping off her fingers, Evie exclaimed good-naturedly, “I s-suppose the fact that I’m going to be m-married at all is a good thing.”

The next girl in line waited with an expectant smile as she was blindfolded, and the glasses were repositioned. She felt for the vessels, nearly overturning one, and dipped her fingers into the blue water. Upon viewing her choice, she seemed quite pleased. “The blue water means she’s going to marry a noted author,” Daisy told Lillian. “You try next!”

Lillian gaveher a speaking glance. “You don’t really believe in this, do you?”

“Oh, don’t be cynical—have some fun!” Daisy took the blindfold and rose on her toes to tie it firmly around Lillian’s head.

Bereft of sight, Lillian allowed herself to be guided to the table. She grinned at the encouraging cries of the young women around her. There was the sound of the glasses being moved in front of her, and she waited with her hands half raised in the air. “What happens if I pick the empty glass?” she asked.

Evie’s voice came near her ear. “You die a sp-spinster!” she said, and everyone laughed.

“No lifting the glasses to test their weight,” someone warned with a giggle. “You can’t avoid the empty glass, if it’s your fate!”

“At the moment I want the empty glass,” Lillian replied, causing another round of laughter. Finding the smooth surface of a glass, she slid her fingers up the side and dipped them into the cool
liquid. A general round of applause and cheering, and she asked, “Am I marrying an author, too?”

“No, you chose the clear water,” Daisy said. “A rich, handsome husband is coming for you, dear!”

“Oh, what a relief,” Lillian said flippantly, lowering the blindfold to peek over the edge. “Is it your turn
now?”

Her younger sister shook her head. “I was the first to try. I knocked over a glass twice in a row, and made a dreadful mess.”

“What does that mean? That you won’t marry at all?”

“It means that I’m clumsy,” Daisy replied cheerfully. “Other than that, who knows? Perhaps my fate has
yet to be decided. The good news is that your husband seems to be on the way.”

“If so, the bastard is late,” Lillian retorted, causing Daisy and Evie to laugh.”
― Lisa Kleypas, quote from It Happened One Autumn

“Loneliness, she thought, was craving for other people's company. But she did not know that loneliness can be an unnoticed cramping of the spirit for lack of companionship.”
― Doris Lessing, quote from The Grass is Singing

“The man sitting across from me at the cafe was thinking about murdering his wife.
He imagined stabbing her and pretending like it was a robbery. Or perhaps, he thought, he'd take her hiking, push her off a cliff and say it was an accident; that she'd slipped. I wanted to tell him it wouldn't work, that in those CSI shows on T.V. they always suspected the husband first.”
― Lori Brighton, quote from The Mind Readers

“What monstrous things, our pasts, especially when they have been lovely.”
― Colum McCann, quote from Dancer

“Sticks and stones may break my bones,but words will never hurt me.”
― Abigail Roux, quote from Sticks & Stones

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

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