Arnold J. Toynbee

“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.”

“The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.”

“It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.”

“Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused by two things: first, an ideal which takes the imagination by storm, and second, a definite intelligible plan for carrying that ideal into practice.”

“Civilization is a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbor.”

“The human race's prospects of survival were considerably better when we were defenseless against tigers than they are today when we have become defenseless against ourselves.”

“History is a vision of God's creation on the move.”

“America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room. Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair.”

“Anxiety and conscience are a powerful pair of dynamos.”

“The immense cities lie basking on the beaches of the continent, and every inland iron track leads to the sea.”

“History teaches us that when a dominant race combines arbitrary power with injustice, its downfall is not far off.”

“The art of handling university students is to make oneself appear to be their contemporary.”

“History is not just facts and events. History is also a censor of judgment.”