A Great Civilization Is Not Conquered From

Human Progress Having Reached A High Level Through Respect For The Liberty And Dignity Of Men, It Has Become Desirable To Re-affirm These Evident Truths

A History Of Civilization Shares The Presumptuousness Of Every Philosophical Enterprise: It Offers The Ridiculous Spectacle Of A Fragment Expounding The Whole. Like Philosophy, Such A Venture Has No Rational Excuse, And Is At Best But A Brave Stupidity; But Let Us Hope That, Like Philosophy, It Will Always Lure Some Rash Spirits Into Its Fatal Depths.

Peace Is An Unstable Equilibrium, Which Can Be Preserved Only By Acknowledged Supremacy Or Equal Power.

So I Should Say That Civilizations Begin With Religion And Stoicism: They End With Scepticism And Unbelief, And The Undisciplined Pursuit Of Individual Pleasure. A Civilization Is Born Stoic And Dies Epicurean.

By And Large The Poor Have The Same Impulses As The Rich, With Only Less Opportunity Or Skill To Implement Them