Most of us spend too much time on the last twenty-four hours and too little on the last six thousand years.
¶ (Attributed)
Quotations by ...
William James (Will) Durant (1885-1981) American historian, teacher, philosopher
Inquiry is fatal to certainty.
¶ (Attributed)
Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks. Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for the river.
¶ Life (18 Oct. 1963)
One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say.
¶ NY World-Telegram & Sun (6 Jun. 1958)
When people ask me to compare the 20th century to older civilizations, I always say the same thing: “The situation is normal.”
¶ New York Times (7 May 1968)
On winning the Pullitzer Prize
The soul of a civilization is its religion, and it dies with its faith.
¶ The Age of Reason Begins (1961)
(with Ariel Durant)
The conservative who resists change is as valuable as the radical who proposes it.
¶ The Lessons of History, ch. 5, "Character & History" (1968)
In my youth I stressed freedom, and in my old age I stress order. I have made the great discovery that liberty is a product of order.
¶ Time (13 Aug. 1965)
The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds.
¶ Recalled on his death (7 Nov. 1981)
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WIST is my collection of quotations I find meaningful, moving, amusing (intended or not), well-phrased, and/or to which I just say I "Wish I'd Said That." But just because I quote it here doesn't mean I actually agree with it. If you have any comments, corrections, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to
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