Will Durant

"“For he who can foresee with his mind is by nature intended to be lord and master; and he who can work only with his body is by nature a slave. The slave is to the master what the body is to the mind.”"

"So the story of man runs in a dreary circle, because he is not yet master of the earth that holds him."

"A nation is born stoic, and dies epicurean. At its cradle (to repeat a thoughtful adage) religion stands, and philosophy accompanies it to the grave. In the beginning of all cultures a strong religious faith conceals and softens the nature of things, and gives men courage to bear pain and hardship patiently; at every step the gods are with them, and will not let them perish, until they do. Even then a firm faith will explain that it was the sins of the people that turned their gods to an avenging wrath; evil does not destroy faith, but strengthens it. If victory comes, if war is forgotten in security and peace, then wealth grows; the life of the body gives way, in the dominant classes, to the life of the senses and the mind; toil and suffering are replaced by pleasure and ease; science weakens faith even while thought and comfort weaken virility and fortitude. At last men begin to doubt the gods; they mourn the tragedy of knowledge, and seek refuge in every passing delight. Achilles is at the beginning, Epicurus at the end. After David comes Job, and after Job, Ecclesiastes."

"Civilization is the order and freedom is promoting cultural activity."

"Moral codes adjust themselves to environmental conditions."

"Sixty years ago I knew everything now I know nothing education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance."

"Every form of government tends to perish by excess of its basic principle."

"Truth always originates in a minority of one, and every custom begins as a broken precedent."

"Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom."

"Knowledge is the eye of desire and can become the pilot of the soul."

"Bankers know that history is inflationary and that money is the last thing a wise man will hoard."

"History is mostly guessing the rest is prejudice."

"In my youth I stressed freedom, and in my old age I stress order. I have made the great discovery that liberty is a product of order."

"Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art."

"Nature has never read the Declaration of Independence. It continues to make us unequal."

"To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy."

"The love we have in our youth is superficial compared to the love that an old man has for his old wife."

"There have been only 268 of the past 3,421 years free of war."

"Forget mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it. Today is your lucky day."

"Tired mothers find that spanking takes less time than reasoning and penetrates sooner to the seat of the memory."