Will Durant
Will Durant
William James "Will" Durantwas an American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife, Ariel Durant, and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for The Story of Philosophy, described as "a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy"...
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth5 November 1885
men liberty progress
Human progress having reached a high level through respect for the liberty and dignity of men, it has become desirable to re-affirm these evident truths
progress environment
Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
real mind progress
Progress is the domination of chaos by mind and purpose, of matter by form and will. It need not be continuous to be real.
concentration-of-wealth numbers progressive-society
In progressive societies the concentration[of wealth] may reach a point where the strength of number in the many poor rivals the strength of ability in the few rich; then the unstable equilibrium generates a critical situation, which history has diversely met by legislation redistributing wealth or by revolution distributing poverty.
dishonest ill integrity others praising speak
To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves.
answer belief creative god history mean nature negative reluctant support supreme vitality
Does history support a belief in God? If by God we mean not the creative vitality of nature but a supreme being intelligent and benevolent, the answer must be a reluctant negative
civilization order liberty
Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty and dies with chaos.
character technology opportunity
The influence of geographic factors diminishes as technology grows. The character and contour of a terrain may offer opportunities for agriculture, mining, or trade, but only the imagination and initiative of leaders, and the hardy industry of followers, can transform the possibilities into fact...Man, not the earth, makes civilization.
conservative radical valuable
The conservative who resists change is as valuable as the radical who proposes it.
men civilization earth
Man, not the earth, makes civilization.
character destiny personality
If you have character, endeavor, personality, courage and the capacity for concentrated labor, you will do what is your destiny – and, perhaps, even do it well.
science law lessons
The laws of biology are the fundamental lessons of history.
past understanding action
The present is the past rolled up for action, and the past is the present unrolled for understanding.
trying pages fool
Only a fool would try to compress a hundred centuries into a hundred pages of hazardous conclusions. We proceed.