Will and Ariel Durant

Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.

The lesson of history is that we may be right, but we cannot be certain.

The greatest civilization is a civilization of the mind.

Freedom is the most important thing in life, and it is hard to maintain.

The great difficulty of history is that it is written by the victors.

War is one of the constants of history, and it seems to be a part of the human condition.

History is largely a history of the ideas men have had about one another.

Men are more often the victims of their own ideas than of their circumstances.

The future is not a gift; it is an achievement.

The past is not dead; it is not even past.