Will & Ariel Durant Quotes

“The fear of capitalism has compelled socialism to widen freedom, and the fear of socialism has compelled capitalism to increase equality. East is West and West is East, and soon the twain will meet.”

“In the end, nothing is lost. Every event, for good or evil, has effects forever.”

“The institutions, conventions, customs and laws that make up the complex structure of a society are the work of a hundred centuries and a billion minds; and one mind must not expect to comprehend them in one lifetime, much less in twenty years.”

“The only real revolution is in the enlightenment of the mind and the improvement of character, the only real emancipation is individual, and the only real revolutionists are philosophers and saints.”

“Nature smiles at the union of freedom and equality in our utopias. For freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies.”

“A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.”

“Most history is guessing, and the rest is prejudice.”

“The present is the past rolled up for action, and the past is the present unrolled for understanding.”

“Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.”

“The family is the nucleus of civilization.”

“The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds.”

“If we rated greatness by the influence of the great, we will say 'Muhammad is the greatest of the great in history.”

“It is a precarious enterprise, and only a fool would try to compress a hundred centuries into a hundred pages of hazardous conclusions. We proceed.”

“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.”

“We're different people. Male and female. Different races. Different religious backgrounds. It was our differences that made us grow.”

“History is the record of the activities of mankind and it has two sides — one is the crimes and absurdities and the other is the contributions to civilization, the lasting developments which enabled each generation to proceed with a larger heritage than the one before. And that to me is the meaning of history.”

“Life might be unforgivable if it were not for death. Suppose you live forever. Not only would you be useless to everyone around you but you'd be sick and tired of being what you are. The thought you'd not be allowed to die would be a horrible thought. Has it ever occurred to you that death is a blessing?”

“Any man who has the same ideas at the age of 92 that he had at the age of 22, or 32, or 62, has not been thinking. Change is a sign of growth, not despair.”