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Modern Civilization Quotes

Browse 65 quotes about Modern Civilization.

Modern Civilization Quotes

“Modern civilization depends on science … James Smithson was well aware that knowledge should not be viewed as existing in isolated parts, but as a whole, each portion of which throws light on all the other, and that the tendency of all is to improve the human mind, and give it new sources of power and enjoyment … narrow minds think nothing of importance but their own favorite pursuit, but liberal views exclude no branch of science or literature, for they all contribute to sweeten, to adorn, and to embellish life … science is the pursuit above all which impresses us with the capacity of man for intellectual and moral progress and awakens the human intellect to aspiration for a higher condition of humanity. [Joseph Henry was the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, named after its benefactor, James Smithson.]”

LifeScienceHumanityLiteratureMoralKnowledgeProgressCivilizationIntellectImprovementPursuitLiberalModern CivilizationSmithsonianMoral ProgressSmithsonian InstituteJames SmithsonJoseph HenrySmithsonSmithsonian Institution
Author:Joseph Henry
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“It is not for nothing, either, that the umbrella has become the very foremost badge of modern civilization--the Urim and Thummim of respectability. . . . So strongly do we feel on this point, indeed, that we are almost inclined to consider all who possess really well-conditioned umbrellas as worthy of the Franchise.”

FeelsWellsModernCivilizationWorthyUmbrellaBadgesRespectabilityModern Civilization
Book:Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Third Edition
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“It is necessary for us to explain the involuntary repugnance we possess for the nature and personality of the Jews. The Jews have never produced a true poet. Heinrich Heine reached the point where he duped himself into a poet, and was rewarded by his versified lies being set to music by our own composers. He was the conscience of Judaism, just as Judaism is the evil conscience of our modern civilization.”

LyingEvilModernPoetPersonalityCivilizationConscienceJewComposerJudaismInvoluntaryModern Civilization
Author:Richard Wagner
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“In one of my latest conversations with Darwin he expressed himself very gloomily on the future of humanity, on the ground that in our modern civilization natural selection had no play, and the fittest did not survive. Those who succeed in the race for wealth are by no means the best or the most intelligent, and it is notorious that our population is more largely renewed in each generation from the lower than from the middle and upper classes.”

MeanPlayHumanityNaturalWealthRaceClassGenerationsModernMiddleCivilizationSucceedConversationIntelligentPopulationSelectionNatural SelectionNotoriousUpper ClassModern CivilizationFuture Of Humanity
Book:Alfred Russel Wallace: An Anthology of His Shorter Writings
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“Although humans have existed on this planet for perhaps 2 million years, the rapid climb to modern civilization within the last 200 years was possible due to the fact that the growth of scientific knowledge is exponential; that is, its rate of expansion is proportional to how much is already known. The more we know, the faster we can know more. For example, we have amassed more knowledge since World War II than all the knowledge amassed in our 2-million-year evolution on this planet. In fact, the amount of knowledge that our scientists gain doubles approximately every 10 to 20 years.”

KnowsWorldYearsHumansWarFactsLastsGrowthKnownMillionsModernExamplePlanetsEvolutionAmountCivilizationGainsScientistRateDuesFasterWar Of The WorldsClimbsWorld War IiWorld War IExpansionRapidsScientific KnowledgeMore KnowledgeModern Civilization
Author:Michio Kaku
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“One of the greatest disasters that happened to modern civilization was for democracy to inscribe "liberty" on its banners instead of "justice." Because "liberty" was considered the ideal it was not long until some men interpreted it as meaning "freedom from justice"; then when religion and decent government attempted to bring them back to justice, organized into "freedom groups" they protested that their constitutional and natural rights were being violated.”

MenLongWisdomGovernmentPoliticsNaturalJusticeLibertyEconomyDemocracyRightsHappenedGroupsModernCivilizationIdealsDisasterOrganizedDecentLiberalismBannerNatural RightsModern Civilization
Author:Fulton J. Sheen
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“Beauty or beast, the modern skyscraper is a major force with a strong magnetic field. It draws into its physical being all of the factors that propel and characterize modern civilization. The skyscraper is the point where art and the city meet.”

ArtStrongForceCitiesModernFieldsCivilizationMajorsDrawsArchitectureFactorsBeastMagneticSkyscraperModern CivilizationMagnetic Fields
Book:The tall building artistically reconsidered: the search for a skyscraper style
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“An unhurried mind brings the capacity to make wise choices every day - choices of how we use our time, of where we place our resources and our love. I am not just talking about avoiding the rat race, but about a life full of an artistic beauty - a life that has almost vanished from modern civilization, but is quite within the reach of everyone.”

MindUseChoicesRaceTalkingWiseModernCivilizationResourcesCapacityArtisticOur TimeRatsAvoidingOur LoveRat RaceModern CivilizationWise Choices
Book:Take Your Time: The Wisdom of Slowing Down
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“A great purposelessness has descended upon modern civilizations. People at large have lost any sense of the meaning and purpose of life; and without an understanding of our own purpose, there can be no true commitment. Whether that commitment is to marriage, family, study, work, God, relationships, or the simple resolutions of our lives, it will be almost impossible to fulfill without a clear and practical understanding of our purpose. Commitment and purpose go hand in hand.”

PeopleHandsPurposeLostUnderstandingSimpleStudyClearOur LivesImpossibleModernCivilizationCommitmentCatholicPracticalsResolutionPurpose Of LifeHand In HandModern CivilizationPurposelessness
Book:The Rhythm of Life: Living Everyday With Passion and Purpose
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“No greater tragedy exists in modern civilization than the aged, worn-out worker who after a life of ceaseless effort and useful productivity must look forward for his declining years to a poorhouse. A modern social consciousness demands a more humane and efficient arrangement.”

YearsLooksSocialEffortConsciousnessGreaterModernCivilizationDemandTragedyWorkersProductivityEfficientWornArrangementsHumaneWorn OutModern CivilizationSocial Consciousness
Book:Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: F.D. Roosevelt, 1937, Volume 6
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“What threatens civilization today is not war, but the changing conception of life values entailed by certain political doctrines. Only by recapturing the dream of human freedom and restoring the importance of the common man's liberties can that undermining threat to modern civilization be averted”

MenHumansWarDreamTodayPoliticalCertainValuesCommonLibertyModernCivilizationImportanceThreatDoctrineConceptionCommon ManRestoringHuman FreedomUnderminingModern Civilization
Author:Lin Yutang
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“For out of this modern civilization economic royalists carved new dynasties. New kingdoms were built upon concentration of control over material things. Through new uses of corporations, banks and securities, new machinery of industry and agriculture, of labor and capital - all undreamed of by the Fathers - the whole structure of modern life was impressed into this royal service.”

WholeUseFatherEconomicModernSecurityMaterialsIndustryCivilizationBuiltLaborStructureKingdomsCorporationsConcentrationAgricultureImpressedRoyalMachineryModern LifeMaterial ThingsDynastyModern CivilizationLabor And Capital
Book:The Essential Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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“Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled.”

BookLiteratureCivilizationSilentDumbSpeculationCrippledLighthouseModern CivilizationStandstillAdvanced CivilizationLiterature HistoryStudying Literature
Book:The Book: A Lecture Sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Authors' League of America, Presented at the Library of Congress October 17, 1979
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“Speed is one of the great curses of modern civilization, obsession with speed leads to quantitative approach; we come to believe that more is better. This is very materialistic, we have to realize that it is the quality of life, quality of relationships, quality of food, medicine, education and everything else which matters.”

BelieveMatterRealizingQualityModernCivilizationApproachMedicineSpeedObsessionCurseQuality Of LifeMaterialisticModern CivilizationFood MedicineMore Is Better
Author:Satish Kumar
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“Once you get past the grand normative claims made in the West for literature, especially the novel, in the post-Christian era - that it is a secular substitute for religion, hallmark of modern civilization, a priori liberal and cosmopolitan, with authors appearing to implicitly embody such pious ideals - you encounter a less agreeable reality: parochialism, blinkered views, even racial prejudices of the kind the bourgeoisie have held everywhere.”

KindMadeRealityChristianPastLiteratureViewsNovelModernCivilizationIdealsClaimsPrejudiceWestErasPostsEncountersSubstitutesSecularAppearingPiousHallmarkBourgeoisieRacial PrejudiceModern CivilizationParochialism
Author:Pankaj Mishra
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“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.”

BookReadingLiteratureStupidCivilizationSilentDumbSpeculationCrippledCarrierLighthouseModern CivilizationStandstillAdvanced CivilizationLiterature HistoryStudying Literature
Book:The Book: A Lecture Sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and the Authors' League of America, Presented at the Library of Congress October 17, 1979
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“The human imagination may be the most elastic thing in the universe, stretching to encompass the millions of dreams that in centuries of relectless struggle built modern civilization, to entertain the endless doubts that hamper every human enterprise, and to conceive the vast menagerie of boogeymen that trouble every human heart.”

HumansHeartMayDreamUniverseImaginationMillionsStruggleDoubtTroubleModernCenturyCivilizationBuiltEndlessEnterpriseHuman HeartStretchingHuman ImaginationModern CivilizationHamperMenagerieBoogeyman
Book:The Taking: A Novel
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“Modern civilization is largely devoted to the pursuit of the cult of delusion. There is no general information about the nature of mind. It is hardly ever written about by writers or intellectuals; modern philosophers do not speak of it directly; the majority of scientists deny it could possibly be there at all. It plays no part in popular culture: no one sings about it, no one talks about it in plays, and it's not on TV. We are actually educated into believing that nothing is real beyond what we can perceive with our ordinary senses.”

MindBelieveRealPlaySufferingCultureSpeakWrittenModernInformationTvsBuddhismCivilizationOrdinaryScientistMajorityPhilosopherDenyPursuitSensesEducatedPerceiveDelusionDevotedCultPopular CultureModern Civilization
Author:Sogyal Rinpoche
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“The foundation of any and every civilization, including our own, is private ownership of the means of production. Whoever wishes to criticize modern civilization, therefore, begins with private property.”

MeanWishLibertyEconomicModernCivilizationEconomicsFoundationPropertyIncludingProductionsCriticizeOwnershipPrivate PropertyModern Civilization
Book:The free and prosperous commonwealth: an exposition of the ideas of classical liberalism
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“Those who admire modern civilization usually identify it with the steam engine and the electric telegraph.”

ModernCivilizationAdmireEnginesElectricSteamTelegraphModern CivilizationSteam Engines
Book:The Collected Works of George Bernard Shaw: Plays, Novels, Articles, Letters and Essays: Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Candida, Arms and The Man, Man and Superman, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion, The New York Times Articles on War, Memories of Oscar Wilde and more
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“For several centuries Western civilization has had a drive for material accumulation, continual extensions of economic power, termed 'progress'...The longing for growth is not wrong. The nub of the problem is how to flip over, as in jujitsu, the magnificent growth energy of modern civilization into a nonacquisitive search for deeper knowledge of self and nature.”

SelfProblemEnergyGrowthProgressEconomicModernCenturyMaterialsCivilizationLongingWesternDeeperMagnificentSelf KnowledgeExtensionsAccumulationFlipWestern CivilizationEconomic PowerModern Civilization
Author:Gary Snyder
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