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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“There was a time when wen we did not form all our words as we do now, in writing on a page. There was a time when the word "&" was written with several distinct & separate letters. It seems madness now. But there it is, & there is nothing we can do about it.

Humanity learned to ride the rails, & that motion made us what we are, a ferromaritime people. The lines of the railsea go everywhere but from one place straight to another. It is always switchback, junction, coils around & over our own train-trails.

What word better could there be to symbolize the railsea that connects & separates all lands, than “&” itself? Where else does the railsea take us, but to one place & that one & that one & that one, & so on? & what better embodies, in the sweep of the pen, the recurved motion of trains, than “&”?

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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.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.