“Civilization, as we know it, is a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbour.”
Arnold J. Toynbee
Civilization on Trial (Primary source)
Civilization on Trial is a collection of thirteen essays, written over roughly two decades, that Toynbee binds together with a common outlook on the meaning of history. Though several pieces predate it, the book is preoccupied with the post-war moment, examining the moral and spiritual challenges facing humanity and arguing that Western civilization stands at a critical juncture.
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“Technology is, of course, only a long Greek name for a bag of tools; and we have to ask ourselves: What are the tools that count in this competition in the use of tools as means to power?”
— Arnold J. Toynbee Primary source“History, in the objective meaning of the word, is the process of change; in the subjective meaning, it is the study of how and why one situation changes into another.”
— Arnold J. Toynbee Primary source“It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal behind it.”
— Arnold J. Toynbee Primary source“The contact of civilisations has always been, and will always continue to be, a ruling factor in human progress and failure.”
— Arnold J. Toynbee Primary sourceMore quotes by Arnold J. Toynbee →
“If you know that this life is all that you have, wouldn’t you make the most of it?”
— Ayn Rand Disputed“He that can have patience can have what he will.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“If you’d know the value of money, go and borrow some.”
— Benjamin Franklin Primary source“You will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson Primary source