Civilised Quotes - Page 3

• No man who is in a hurry is quite civilised.

  Ariel Durant

  Men

  Will Durant, Ariel Durant (1939). “The Story of Civilization: The life of Greece; being a history of Greek civilization from the beginnings, and of civilization in the Near East from the death of Alexander, to the Roman conquest; with an introduction on the prehistoric culture of Crete”

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• The foundation for a new era was laid but yesterday. The human was given its first chance to become truly civilised when it took courage to question all things and made 'knowledge and understanding' the foundation upon which to create a more reasonable and sensible society of human beings.

  Hendrik Willem van Loon

  Yesterday, Understanding, Foundation

  Hendrik Willem Van Loon (2016). “The Story of Mankind: Juvenile History”, p.205, VM eBooks

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• We are free, we are civilised, to little purpose, if we grudge to any portion of the human race an equal measure of freedom and civilisation.

  Thomas B. Macaulay

  Race, Purpose, Littles

  "Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches" by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Volume 4, 2007.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• You have to protect your food, otherwise someone else takes it! There is no divinity in here! But there is divinity there: In a civilised order where no being has to defend for its food!

  Mehmet Murat Ildan

  Order, Divinity, Protect

  4 Copy quote

• Most men, whether men or women, wish above all else to be comfortable, and thought is a pre-eminently uncomfortable process; it brings to the individual far more suffering than happiness in a semi-civilised world which still goes to war.

  Vera Brittain

  War, Men, Suffering

  13 Copy quote

• With highly civilised nations continued progress depends in a subordinate degree on natural selection; for such nations do not supplant and exterminate one another as do savage tribes.

  Charles Darwin

  Progress, Degrees, Savages

  Charles Darwin (2016). “The Descent of Man (Diversion Classics)”, p.199, Diversion Books

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• If you want to be a civilised man, first you have to be a non-violent man! If you want to be a civilised country, first you have to be a non-violent country! Violence is the means of the sick minds; peacefulness is the means of the healthy minds!

  Mehmet Murat Ildan

  Country, Mean, Men

  4 Copy quote

• A civilised man is someone who has discovered something more satisfying than combat.

  John Keegan

  Men, Combat, Satisfying

  7 Copy quote

• If there was anything any Radchaai considered essential for civilised life, it was tea.

  Ann Leckie

  Tea, Essentials, Ifs

  4 Copy quote

• Sex is probably one of the last forms of human expression to enjoy such a direct connection with nature. It might be the primary site of conflict between nature and culture. If one assumes that nature (or instinct) is repressed in a highly civilised society, then I think the conceptual dyad nature-culture is best preserved there, in the realm of sex.

  Thomas Koerfer

  Sex, Thinking, Expression

  Source: www.koerferfilm.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• I have a flat in Paris and go there a lot, but the Eurostar's much more civilised than flying.

  Michael Bond

  Paris, Flying, Flats

  4 Copy quote

• Violence is the tool of the barbarian; aggression is the method of the primitive; bloodshed is the way of the savage; cruelty is the manner of the brutish! To be called as a 'civilised,' man must be peaceable!

  Mehmet Murat Ildan

  Men, Savages, Tools

  4 Copy quote

• That monstrous tuberosity of civilised life, the capital of England.

  Thomas Carlyle

  London, England, Monstrous

  Thomas Carlyle (1831). “Sartor Resartus: The life and opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh in three books: By Thomas Carlyle”, p.167

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• As a civilised society, we have a duty to support those among us who are vulnerable and in need. When times are hard, that duty should be felt more than ever, not disappear or diminish.

  Justin Welby

  Support, Needs, Vulnerable

  "Archbishop of Canterbury attacks Government welfare reforms" by Edward Malnick, www.telegraph.co.uk. March 9, 2013.

  27 Copy quote

  Show source

• At the hour of midnight the Salerian gate was silently opened, and the inhabitants were awakened by the tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet. Eleven hundred and sixty-three years after the foundation of Rome, the Imperial city, which had subdued and civilised so considerable a part of mankind, was delivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of Germany and Scythia.

  Edward Gibbon

  Rome, Years, Cities

  6 Copy quote

• Any outlaw regime that has ties to terrorist groups or seeks to possess weapons of mass destruction is a grave danger to the civilised world and will be confronted.

  George W. Bush

  Mass Destruction, Ties, Terrorist Groups

  6 Copy quote

• There is nothing more foreign to a civilised and democratic system than preventive detention.

  Robert Bourassa

  Democratic, Detention

  7 Copy quote

• Swedes are such a civilised, perfect society - at least on the surface. There's a great safety net, a huge middle class, free education, free health care. People are very polite, they wait their turn. They're not too loud, they're not too quiet, but sometimes it's a little too perfect.

  Alexander Skarsgard

  Class, Free Education, People

  12 Copy quote

• We can only truly be civilised people when we have regular and meaningful contact with the wild world

  Simon Barnes

  Meaningful, Nature, People

  4 Copy quote

• In itself and in its consequences the life of leisure is beautiful and ennobling in all civilised men's eyes.

  Thorstein Veblen

  Life, Beautiful, Eye

  Thorstein Veblen (2016). “THE THEORY OF THE LEISURE CLASS: An Economic Study of American Institutions and a Social Critique of Conspicuous Consumption: Development of Institutions That Shape Society and Influence the Livelihood of Citizens: Based on Sociological & Economical Theories of Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Adam Smith and Herbert Spencer”, p.26, e-artnow

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• The English language is like London: proudly barbaric yet deeply civilised, too, common yet royal, vulgar yet processional, sacred yet profane.

  Stephen Fry

  London, Sacred, Royal

  Stephen Fry (2006). “The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within”, p.551, Penguin

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• In all highly civilised communities Pretence is prominent, and sooner or later invades the regions of Literature.

  James Payn

  Community, Literature, Sooner Or Later

  James Payn (1882). “Sammlung”

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• You’re talking about Rwanda or Bangladesh, or Cambodia, or the Philippines. They’ve got democracy, according to Freedom House. But have you got a civilised life to lead? People want economic development first and foremost. The leaders may talk something else. You take a poll of any people. What is it they want? The right to write an editorial as you like? They want homes, medicine, jobs, schools.

  Lee Kuan Yew

  Jobs, School, Home

  9 Copy quote

• Well, the world is vastly counted in favour of men at every level - except if you live in a civilised country and you’re sort of educated and middle-class, because then you’re almost certainly junior in your relationship and in a state of permanent, crippled apology. Your preferences are routinely mocked. There’s a huge, unfortunate lack of respect for anything male.

  Steven Moffat

  Country, Apology, Men

  4 Copy quote

• Bombing is not especially inhumane. War itself is inhumane and the bombing plane, which is used to paralyse industry and transport, is a relatively civilised weapon. 'Normal' or 'legitimate' warfare is just as destructive of inanimate objects and enormously so of human lives.

  George Orwell

  War, Historical, Inanimate Objects

  George Orwell (2016). “Fifty Essays (George Orwell) (Literary Thoughts Edition)”, p.502, epubli

  7 Copy quote

  Show source