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Western Civilization Quotes

Browse 217 quotes about Western Civilization.

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Western Civilization Quotes

“I did have the resource of having taught Greek mythology and the history of Western civilization, and you can go back into the plays of Aeschylus and follow what happens when people seek revenge, and there are people plucking their eyes out. And Greek mythology is filled with all kinds of monsters and whatnot.”

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Author:Wes Craven
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“In western civilization, the period ruled by mysticism is known as the 'Dark Ages' and the 'Middle Ages'. I will assume that you know the nature of that period and the state of human existence in those ages. The Renaissance broke the rules of the mystics. "Renaissance" means the "rebirth". Few people today will care to remind you that it was a rebirth of reason - of man's mind.”

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Author:Ayn Rand
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“The greatest number of drug addicts are to be found in Teheran and in Karachi, not in the West. Not in New York believe it or not. It's the same with the roles of slavery, racism and imperialism in the world. These institutions were present in other cultures. However, it was Western civilization which did something about slavery, about racism and voluntarily dissolved its empires leaving behind a very positive legacy of institutions not to mention buildings and roadways.”

WorldBelieveCultureFoundNumbersBehindsRolesNew YorkBuildingCivilizationDrugRacismInstitutionsSlaveryWestWesternLeavingLegacyEmpiresImperialismAddictWestern CivilizationDrug AddictOther CulturesVery Positive
Author:Ibn Warraq
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“It is the West that has liberated women, racial minorities, religious minorities, and gays and lesbians, recognizing and defending their rights. The notions of freedom and human rights were present at the dawn of Western civilization, as ideals at least, but have gradually come to fruition through supreme acts of self-criticism.”

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Author:Ibn Warraq
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“On humanitarian intervention in general, I guess my view is not unlike the view that was attributed to Gandhi, accurately or not, when he was supposedly asked what he thought about western civilization. He is supposed to have said that he thought it would be a good idea. Similarly, humanitarian intervention would be a good idea, in principle.”

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Author:Noam Chomsky
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“Our understanding of what constitutes intelligence is utterly relative. If an aborigine drafted an I.Q. test, for example, all of Western civilization would probably flunk. We have a very convenient and self-serving way of defining intelligence. If an animal does something, we call it instinct. If we do the same thing for the same reason, we call it intelligence.”

IfsWayDoeSelfReasonUnderstandingAnimalExampleCivilizationTestsInstinctWesternServingRelativeDefiningConvenientWestern CivilizationSelf Serving
Book:Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness, and the Future of Life on Earth
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“Not only is patriotism disdained, the very basis for pride in one's country and culture is systematically undermined in our educational institutions at all levels. The achievements of western civilization are buried in histories that portray every human sin found here as if they were peculiarities of the west.”

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Author:Thomas Sowell
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“My point is, as civilization is progressing, Mosaic law came down from the mountain, was handed to civilization, it emerged through the Greek civilization as the Greeks were developing their Age of Reason. And we're talking about the foundation of Western Civilization, and almost concurrently with that, Roman law was emerging as well.”

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Author:Steve King
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“The religion that has transformed Western civilization for two millennia is a blank slate for liberals. Their closest reference point is conservative Christians, meaning people you're not supposed to hire. And these are the people who carp about George Bush's alleged lack of intellectual curiosity.”

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Author:Ann Coulter
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“My analysis, especially of the computer revolution, always comes back to capitalism. It's that economic system that has led to Western civilization's willingness to enslave ourselves to machines - because some people benefit enormously from it, while the costs are borne by other people and the planet.”

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Author:Kirkpatrick Sale
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“It was in the 1960s that the left convinced itself that there is something fascistic about patriotism and something perversely "patriotic" about running down America. Anti-Americanism - a stand-in for hatred of Western civilization - became the stuff of sophisticates and intellectuals as never before. Flag burners became the truest "patriots" because dissent - not just from partisan politics, but the American project itself - became the highest virtue.”

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Book:Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning
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“White people deserve to be hit, deserve to be the victims of crime and acts of terror because they have for so long been the unfair, unjust, immoral majority throughout most of the nations that are imbued with Western civilization. If you think that’s an exaggeration, it isn’t. That is exactly how the Democrat Party of today and the American left looks at things.”

PeopleIfsThinkingLooksLongTodayLeftNationsWhitePartyCrimeCivilizationDeserveVictimMajorityDemocratWesternTerrorUnfairUnjustImmoralExaggerationWestern CivilizationActs Of Terror
Author:Rush Limbaugh
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“To go back to a moment of Western civilization remote enough in time so that we should be able to look at it dispassionately, ask what happened during World War I. What was the typical behavior of respected intellectuals in Germany, England, the United States? What happened to those who publicly questioned the nobility of the war effort, on both sides? I do not think the answers are untypical.”

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Author:Noam Chomsky
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“I think religion has often played a very positive role. Take western civilization, the Catholic Church has played an honorable role in helping those in need. In contrast, the US carried out a virtual war against the church in central America in the 1980's primarily because prime elements in the church were working with great courage and honor to help those in need. And to organize them to help themselves.”

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Author:Noam Chomsky
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“Somewhere in the world there was a young woman with such splendid understanding that she'd see him entire, like a poem or story, and find his words so valuable after all that when he confessed his apprehensions she would explain why they were in fact the very things that made him precious to her...and to Western Civilization! There was no such girl, the simple truth being.”

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Book:Writer's choice
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“The contract between the author and the reader is a game. And the game . . . is one of the greatest invetions of Western civilization: the game of telling stories, inventing characters, and creating the imaginary paradise of the individual, from whence no one can be expelled because, in a novel, no one owns the truth and everyone has the right to be heard and understood.”

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Author:Carlos Fuentes
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“I’ve met plenty of embarrassing parents, but Kronos, the evil Titan Lord who wanted to destroy Western Civilization? Not the kind of dad you invited to school for Career Day.”

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Book:Demigods and Monsters: Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series
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“There have been five great kisses since 1642 B.C. when Saul and Delilah Korn's inadvertent discovery swept across Western civilization. (Before then couples hooked thumbs.) And the precise rating of kisses is a terribly difficult thing, often leading to great controversy, because although everyone agrees with the formula of affection times purity times intensity times duration, no one has ever been completely satisfied with how much weight each element should receive. But on any system, there are five that everyone agrees deserve full marks. Well, this one left them all behind.”

ShouldWellsHas BeensLeftDifficultBehindsFiveCoupleCivilizationKissingElementsDiscoveryDeserveWeightMarkAgreeWesternAffectionSatisfiedPurityFormulasIntensityPreciseControversyThumbsDifficult ThingsRatingHookedDurationWestern Civilization
Book:The Princess Bride
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“If you want to understand a society, take a good look at the drugs it uses. And what can this tell you about American culture? Well, look at the drugs we use. Except for pharmaceutical poison, there are essentially only two drugs that Western civilization tolerates: Caffeine from Monday to Friday to energize you enough to make you a productive member of society, and alcohol from Friday to Monday to keep you too stupid to figure out the prison that you are living in.”

IfsWantWellsLooksTwoEnoughUseCultureStupidFiguresCivilizationDrugMembersPrisonWesternAlcoholPoisonProductiveTolerateLooking GoodMondayFridayAmerican CultureWestern CivilizationCaffeinePharmaceutical
Author:Bill Hicks
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“And do you know what a full-fledged war would look like, Percy?" "Bad?" I guessed. "Imagine the world in chaos. Nature at war with itself. Olympians forced to choose sides between Zeus amd Poseidon. Destruction. Carnage. Millions dead. Western civilization turned into a battleground so big it will make the Trojan War look like a water-balloon fight." "Bad," I repeated.”

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Author:Rick Riordan
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