Militarism has been by far the commonest cause of the breakdown of civilizations. The single art of war makes progress at the expense of all the arts of peace.
— Arnold Toynbee
The warm desires, the long expectations of youth, are founded on the ignorance of themselves and of the world: they are generally damped by time and experience, by disappointment or possession; and after the middle season the crowd must be content to remain at the foot of the mountain: while the few who have climbed the summit aspire to descend or expect to fall. In old age, the consolation of hope is reserved for the tenderness of parents, who commence a new life in their children; the faith of enthusiasts, who sing Hallelujahs above the clouds; and the vanity of authors, who presume the immortality of their name and writings.
— Edward Gibbon
The theologian may indulge the pleasing task of describing Religion as she descended from Heaven, arrayed in her native purity. A more melancholy duty is imposed on the historian. He must discover the inevitable mixture of error and corruption which she contracted in a long residence upon Earth, among a weak and degenerate race of beings.
— Edward Gibbon
“Of the twenty-two civilizations that have appeared in history, nineteen of them collapsed when they reached the moral state the United States is in now.”
— Arnold Toynbee
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”.
— Karl Marx
Of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.
— Herodotus
“A city that outdistances man’s walking powers is a trap for man.”
— Arnold Toynbee
“You should never ask a historian to predict the future—we have enough trouble predicting the past.”
A.J.P. Taylor
I do not believe that civilizations have to die because civilization is not an organism. It is a product of wills.
— Arnold Toynbee
The most worthless of mankind are not afraid to condemn in others the same disorders which they allow in themselves; and can readily discover some nice difference in age, character, or station, to justify the partial distinction.
— Edward Gibbon