#civilization

A heart pulsating in harmony with the circulation of sap and the flow of rivers? A body with the rhythms of the earth in its movements? No. Instead: a mind, shut off from the oxygen of alert senses, that has wasted itself on 'treasons, stratagems and spoils'--of importance only within four walls. A tame animal--in whom the strength of the species has outspent itself, to no purpose. ↗

— Dag Hammarskjöld

#humans #nature #nature

We seldom realize, for example that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society. ↗

— Alan Wilson Watts

#culture #names #power-of-words #responsibility #wisdom

(When asked what he thought of Western civilization): 'I think it would be a good idea. ↗

— Mahatma Gandhi

#eastern-civilization #eastern-philosophy #society #western-civilization #western-philosophy

And here was the moment. The end of it all, for civilization was merely another name for friendship, and friendship was coming to an end. ↗

— Iain Pears

#friendship #dreams

I am beginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is a flower... I think that she has tamed me... ↗

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

#flowers

Women's liberation is one thing, but the permeation of anti-male sentiment in post-modern popular culture - from our mocking sitcom plots to degrading commercial story lines - stands testament to the ignorance of society. Fair or not, as the lead gender that never requested such a role, the historical male reputation is quite balanced. For all of their perceived wrongs, over centuries they've moved entire civilizations forward, nurtured the human quest for discovery and industry, and led humankind from inconvenient darkness to convenient modernity. Navigating the chessboard that is human existence is quite a feat, yet one rarely acknowledged in modern academia or media. And yet for those monumental achievements, I love and admire the balanced creation that is man for all his strengths and weaknesses, his gifts and his curses. I would venture to say that most wise women do. ↗

— Tiffany Madison

#feminism #life #maleness #modernity #philosophy

We will create a civilization of the Mind in Cyberspace. May it be more humane and fair than the world your governments have made before. ↗

— John Perry Barlow

#before #civilization #create #cyberspace #fair

Inventor: A person who makes an ingenious arrangement of wheels, levers and springs, and believes it civilization. ↗

— Ambrose Bierce

#arrangement #believes #civilization #ingenious #inventor

Right now, there's the illusion of order and civilization, but there's a tremendous amount of economic tension in this country and the educational system is constantly eroding. ↗

— Kathryn Bigelow

#civilization #constantly #country #economic #educational

Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members. ↗

— Pearl S. Buck

#civilization #deserted #fear #helpless #make