1,222 Quotes About Civilization

Handwriting enables civilization.

We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages.

Civilization was a relentless war that man was doomed to lose eventually. - Pg. 195

There has never been but one question in all civilization-how to keep a few men from saying to many men: You work and earn bread and we will eat it.

[L]uxury always comes at someone else’s expense. One of the many advantages of civilization is that one doesn’t generally have to see that, if one doesn’t wish. You’re free to enjoy its benefits without troubling your conscience. (Ancillary Justice)

Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet. They are what we call civilization.

The constant tug between nature and civilization is what keeps on our toes. Though of course, that did rather beg the question of how you defined nature and how you defined civilization.

Civilization is to groups what intelligence is to individuals. It is a means of combining the intelligence of many to achieve ongoing group adaptation. Civilization, like intelligence, may serve well, serve adequately, or fail to serve its adaptive function. When civilization fails to serve, it must disintegrate unless it is acted upon by unifying internal or external forces.

We know we are a species obsessed with itself and its own past and origins. We know we are capable of removing from the sanctuary of the earth shards and fragments, and gently placing them in museums. Great museums in great cities—the hallmarks of civilisation.