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.
Will DurantRead
Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.
Interpretation
Civilization is fragile and can change unexpectedly based on various factors.
This quote by Will Durant emphasizes the idea that civilization is not a permanent or fixed state; rather, it is contingent upon geological and environmental conditions, which can shift suddenly. It serves as a reminder to understand the temporary nature of societal constructs and the potential for drastic changes that can occur without prior warning.
In practice
In a lecture on the impact of climate change on society, one might use this quote to illustrate that civilization is vulnerable to environmental shifts.
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.
The greatest question of our time is not communism vs. individualism, not Europe vs. America, not even the East vs. the West; it is whether men can bear to live without God.
If we have never been amazed by the very fact that we exist, we are squandering the greatest fact of all.
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.
If you wish to be loved, be modest; if you wish to be admired, be proud; if you wish both, combine external modesty with internal pride.
When liberty destroys order the hunger for order will destroy liberty.
The Self in you is the same as the Self Universal. Whatever powers are manifested throughout the world, those powers exist in germ, in latency, in you.... If you realize the unity of the Self amid the diversities of the Not-Self, then Yoga Will not seem an impossible thing to you.
Life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all.
The measure of a man is what he does with power.
I suppose every one must have reflected how primeval and how poetical are the things that one carries in one's pocket; the pocket-knife, for instance, the type of all human tools, the infant of the sword. Once I planned to write a book of poems entirely about things in my pockets. But I found it would be too long; and the age of the great epics is past.
It was the mark of a barbarian to destroy something one could not understand.
Wanting to be liked means being a supporting character in your own life, using the cues of the actors around you to determine your next line rather than your own script. It means that your self-worth will always be tied to what someone else thinks about you, forever out of your control.
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