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The evolution of civilizations: an introduction to historical analysis

Book by Carroll Quigley · 23 quotes · Social, Civilization, Different

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The evolution of civilizations: an introduction to historical analysis Quotes

“We see that there are two different kinds of...societies: (a) parasitic societies and (b) producing societies. The former are those which live from hunting, fishing, or merely gleaning. By their economic activities they do not increase, but rather decrease, the amount of wealth in the world. The second kind of societies, producing societies, live by agricultural and pastoral activities. By these activities they seek to increase the amount of wealth in the world.”

WorldKindTwoDifferentWealthEconomicAmountActivityIncreaseFormerFishingLive ByHuntingDifferent KindsDecreaseGleaning
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“everything is too important ever to be entrusted to professional experts, because every organization of such professionals and every established social organization becomes a vested-interest institution more concerned with its efforts to maintain itself or advance its own interests than to achieve the purpose that society expects it to achieve.”

ImportantPurposeSocialInterestEffortSocietyAchieveConcernedOrganizationInstitutionsExpertsVested InterestsSocial Organization
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“I came into history from a primary concern with mathematics and science. This has been a tremendous help to me as a person and as a historian, although it must be admitted it has served to make my historical interpretations less conventional than may be acceptable of many of my colleagues in the field.”

MayPersonsHas BeensHelpingFieldsConcernMathematicsHistoricalPrimariesInterpretationHistorianAcceptableConventionalColleaguesMathematics And Science
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“After years of work in both areas of study, I concluded that the social sciences were different, in many important ways, from the natural sciences, but that the same scientific methods were applicable in both areas, and, indeed, that no very useful work could be done in either area except by scientific methods.”

WayYearsImportantDifferentDoneSocialNaturalStudyAreasMethodScientific MethodSocial ScienceNatural Science
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“No slave system has ever been able to continue to function on the slaves provided by its own biological reproduction because the rate of human reproduction is too slow and the expense from infant mortality and years of unproductive upkeep of the young make this prohibitively expensive. This relationship is one of the basic causes of the American Civil War, and was even more significant in destroying ancient Rome.”

YearsHumansWarAbleYoungCausesFunctionSlaveRateAncientSignificantCivil WarExpensiveExpensesMortalityDestroyingRomeInfantAmerican Civil WarReproductionAncient RomeUnproductiveInfant MortalityUpkeep
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“Western civilization presents one of the most difficult tasks for historical analysis, because it is not yet finished, because we are a part of it and lack perspective, and because it presents considerable variation from our pattern of historical change.”

DifficultPerspectiveCivilizationTasksHistoricalWesternPatternsFinishedAnalysisVariationWestern CivilizationDifficult TasksHistorical Change
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“In fact, violence as a symbol of our growing irrationality has had an increasing role in activity for its own sake, when no possible justification could be made that the activity was seeking to resolve a problem.”

MadeFactsProblemRolesGrowingViolenceActivitySakeSeekingSymbolsResolveJustificationIrrationality
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“To know is not too demanding: it merely requires memory and time. But to understand is quite a different matter: it requires intellectual ability and training, a self conscious awareness of what one is doing, experience in techniques of analysis and synthesis, and above all, perspective.”

KnowsDifferentSelfMatterMemoriesAbilityAwarenessPerspectiveIntellectualTrainingConsciousTechniqueAnalysisSelf ConsciousSynthesisConscious Awareness
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“For years I have told my students that I been trying to train executives rather than clerks. The distinction between the two is parallel to the distinction previously made between understanding and knowledge. It is a mighty low executive who cannot hire several people with command of more knowledge than he has himself.”

PeopleTryingYearsMadeTwoUnderstandingStudentsLowsTrainCommandDistinctionExecutivesParallelsClerksMore Knowledge
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