Civilisations Quotes

“Old people have wisdom but not energy; young people have energy but not wisdom; energy and wisdom must be in the same body to create a much better civilisation! To do this, we will either give energy to the old or we will give wisdom to the young and for now the latter seems a more plausible action!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“One of its (civilisations) most powerful weapons has always been 'barbarity': 'we' know that 'we' are civilised by contrasting ourselves with those we deem to be uncivilised, with those who do not -or cannot be trusted to - share our values. Civilisation is a process of exclusion as well as inclusion. The boundary between 'us' and 'them' may be an internal one (for much of world history the idea of a 'civilised woman' has been a contradiction in terms), or an external one, as the word 'barbarian' suggests; it was originally a derogatory and ethnocentric ancient Greek term for foreigners you could not understand, because they spoke in an incomprehensible babble: 'bar-bar-bar ...' The inconvenient truth, of course, is that so-called 'barbarians' may be no more than those with a different view from ourselves of what it is to be civilised, and of what matters in human culture. In the end, one person's barbarity is another person's civilisation.”
― Mary Beard, How Do We Look / The Eye of Faith

“The only true solutions to complex systemic problems are piecemeal, multi-pronged answers, and they will vary wildly from forest to desert, from city to city, and even between neighborhoods within a single city. Life is messy and civilization even messier. If your answer is ever any less messy, you’re fooling yourself.”
― John Bierce, The Siege of Skyhold

“Mahalalele Bombayului alunecară pe lîngă ei – fabrici, cocioabe, clădiri uriașe – fantomatice și albe în lumina lunii. Trecători cafenii, cu picioare ca bețele, apăreau o secundă în lumina orbitoare a farurilor ca adevărurile înțelese intuitiv și cu o siguranță imediată – pentru a dispare apoi din nou, aproape fulgerător, în hăul beznei înconjurătoare. ... Locuitorii unei lumi de gîndire aflată la o distanță astrală de lumea lor îi urmăreau cu privirea din căruțe scîrțîitoare, trase de bivoli, în timp ce mașina zbura pe alături.”
― Aldous Huxley

“Some moments arrive and we wish to see no trace at all from the civilisation! And such moments are the best proof that our civilisation has a demonic side!”
― Mehmet Murat ildan

“Творець не хотів таких експедицій, такого "спілкування цивілізацій", і тому розділив їх безоднями. А ми ж не тільки зробили з райського яблука компот, а вже пиляємо Дерево Пізнання...”
― Stanisław Lem, Фиаско