Arnold J. Toynbee
Arnold J. Toynbee
Arnold Joseph Toynbee CHwas a British historian, philosopher of history, research professor of International History at the London School of Economics and the University of London and author of numerous books. Toynbee in the 1918–1950 period was a leading specialist on international affairs...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionHistorian
Date of Birth14 April 1889
Arnold J. Toynbee quotes about
actors world matter
The West has never been all of the world that matters. The West has not been the only actor on the stage of modern history even at the peak of the West's power (and this peak has perhaps now already been passed)... It has not been the West that has been hit by the world; it has been the world that has been hit - and hit hard - by the West.
inspirational motivational success
Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused by two things: first, an ideal, with takes the imagination by storm, and second, a definite intelligible plan for carrying that ideal into practice.
men power worship
Sooner or later, man has always had to decide whether he worships his own power or the power of God.
loss civilization creative
On this showing, the nature of the breakdowns of civilizations can be summed up in three points: a failure of creative power in the minority, an answering withdrawal of mimesis on the part of the majority, and a consequent loss of social unity in the society as a whole.
suicide civilization murder
Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.
war civilization class
Of the twenty or so civilizations known to modern Western historians, all except our own appear to be dead or moribund, and, when we diagnose each case... we invariably find that the cause of death has been either War or Class or some combination of the two.
love inspire different
Love's way of dealing with us is different from conscience's way. Conscience commands; love inspires. What we do out of love, we do because we want to.
believe civilization ifs-and
Civilizations, I believe, come to birth and proceed to grow by successfully responding to successive challenges. They break down and go to pieces if and when a challenge confronts them that they fail to meet.
children men parent
Religion holds the solution to all problems of human relationship, whether they are between parents and children or nation and nation. Sooner or later, man has always had to decide whether he worships his own power or the power of God.
change wisdom art
Civilization is a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbor.
civilization umpires two
Of the twenty-two civilizations that have appeared in history, nineteen of them collapsed when they reached the moral state the United States is in now.
inspirational motivational believe
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.
moving history vision
History is a vision of God's creation on the move.
determination work live-life
The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.