45 Best Will Durant Quotes From The American Writer And Philosopher

Here are some great Will Durant quotes for you to learn from!

In 1968, William Durant and his wife Alice Durant were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, which was followed by a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. Let's go through this great list of Will Durant quotes!

William James Durant was born and raised in North Adams, Massachusetts. He graduated from St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City, back in 1903. Then, he began taking an interest in socialist philosophy.

But it wasn't until after World War 1 that he began recognizing political behavior. In 1917, while working on his doctorate in philosophy, he wrote his first book, 'Philosophy and the Social Problem', in which he discussed the idea of the slow growth of philosophy. He had also received his doctorate in the same year.

'The Story of Philosophy' was originally a series of educational pamphlets aimed at workers.

It grew so popular that it was republished in 1926 by Simon & Schuster as a hardcover book, eventually becoming a bestseller. This book is a brief look into the different philosophers who ended up setting up the base of Western Philosophy.

While the book was criticized for its lack of focus on Eastern Philosophy, 'The Story Of Philosophy' remains a great book for a brief look into the works of Western Philosophers and how Western Philosophy was born.

The huge sales of the book provided Will and Ariel Durant the financial independence to travel the world several times and spend four decades writing 'The Story Of Civilization' series. This list is perfect for those looking for 'Will Durant quotes civilization' and 'Will Durant quotes India'.

Here's a list of the best Will Durant quotes for you!

Without further ado, let's get into this great list of quotes by Will Durant. For more related content, take a look at Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn quotes and Tim O'Brien quotes.

Will Durant Quotes On History And Civilization

History lies in the core of Will Durant's writing. Naturally, there are many insightful and historic quotes that we can get from Will Durant's books and speeches. This magnificent list has great Will Durant quotes on ancient civilization and history, including some great Will Durant quotes on America.

1. "History reports that the men who can manage men manage the men who can manage only things, and the men who can manage money manage all."

― Will Durant.

2. "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within."

― Will Durant.

3. "So I should say that civilizations begin with religion and stoicism: they end with skepticism and unbelief, and the undisciplined pursuit of individual pleasure. A civilization is born stoic and dies epicurean."

― Will Durant.

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

― Will Durant.

5. "When a man is interested in the past he writes history; when he is interested in the future he makes it."

― Will Durant.

6. "The principle of democracy is freedom, the principle of war is discipline; each requires the absence of the other."

― Will Durant.

7. "It is true that even across the Himalayan barrier India has sent to the west, such gifts as grammar and logic, philosophy and fables, hypnotism and chess, and above all numerals and the decimal system."

― Will Durant.

8. "India will teach us the tolerance and gentleness of mature mind, understanding spirit and a unifying, pacifying love for all human beings."

― Will Durant.

9. "It might have been supposed that the building of 30,000 miles of railways would have brought a measure of prosperity to India. But these railways were built not for India but for England; not for the benefit of the Hindu, but for the purposes of the British army and British trade."

― Will Durant.

10. "The greatest question of our time is not communism vs. individualism, not Europe vs. America, not even the East vs. the West; it is whether men can bear to live without God."

― Will Durant.

11. "The Roman Republic would soon be destroyed by the unfettered energy of its great men."

― Will Durant.

12. "The older Romans used temples as their banks, as we use banks as our temples."

― Will Durant.

13. "This is the tragedy of almost every civilization—that its soul is in its faith, and seldom survives philosophy."

― Will Durant.

14. "One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say."

― Will Durant.

15. "History in the large is the conflict of minorities; the majority applauds the victor and supplies the human material of social experiment."

― Will Durant.

Will Durant Quotes On Philosophy

Will Durant was a famous American philosopher as well and he had great insights on the topic too. Here are great Will and Ariel Durant quotes about modern-day philosophy.

16. "Our knowledge is a receding mirage in an expanding desert of ignorance."

― Will Durant.

17. "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

― Will Durant.

18. "Science gives us knowledge, but only philosophy can give us wisdom."

― Will Durant.

19. "Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art."

― Will Durant.

20. "Every vice was once a virtue, and may become respectable again, just as hatred becomes respectable in wartime."

― Will Durant.

21. "There is no real philosophy until the mind turns round and examines itself."

― Will Durant.

22. "Philosophy begins when one learns to doubt—particularly to doubt one's cherished beliefs, one's dogmas and one's axioms."

― Will Durant.

23. "In its youth people produce mythology and poetry; in its decadence, philosophy and logic."

― Will Durant.

Will Durant Quotes About Life

These Will Durant quotes on habits and general lifestyle are insightful and informative.

24. "Fear of death, wonder at the causes of chance events or unintelligible happenings, hope for divine aid and gratitude for good fortune, cooperated to generate religious belief."

― Will Durant.

25. "Forget mistakes. Forget failure. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it. Today is your lucky day."

― Will Durant.

26. "The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds."

― Will Durant.

27. "Truth will make us free."

― Will Durant.

28. "Those who have suffered much become very bitter or very gentle."

― Will Durant.

29. "You can't fool all the people all the time, but you can fool enough of them to rule a large country."

― Will Durant.

30. "The most interesting thing in the world is another human being who wonders, suffers and raises the questions that have bothered him to the last day of his life, knowing he will never get the answers."

― Will Durant.

31. "Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance."

― Will Durant.

32. "There have been only 268 of the past 3 421 years free of war."

― Will Durant.

33. "To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves; let us be above such transparent egotism. If you can't say good and encouraging things, say nothing. Nothing is often a good thing to do, and always a clever thing to say."

― Will Durant.

34. "Rooted in freedom, bonded in the fellowship of danger, sharing everywhere a common human blood, we declare again that all men are brothers, and that mutual tolerance is the price of liberty."

― Will Durant.

35. "To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. . . let us be above such transparent egotism."

― Will Durant.

36. "To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy."

― Will Durant.

37. "In the end, nothing is lost. Every event, for good or evil, has effects forever."

― Will Durant.

38. "Nature smiles at the union of freedom and equality in our utopias. For freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies."

― Will Durant.

39. "Truth always originates in a minority of one, and every custom begins as a broken precedent."

― Will Durant.

40. "Until our states become members of a large and effectively protective group they will continue to act like individuals and families in the hunting stage."

― Will Durant.

41. "When liberty becomes license, dictatorship is near."

― Will Durant.

42. "In my youth I stressed freedom, and in my old age I stress order. I have made the great discovery that liberty is a product of order."

― Will Durant.

43. "We have here the fundamental problem of ethics, the crux of the theory of moral conduct. What is justice? -shall we seek righteousness, or shall we seek power? -is it better to be good, or to be strong?"

― Will Durant.

44. "He who leaves his home in search of knowledge walks in the path of God … and the ink of the scholar is holier than the blood of the martyr."

― Will Durant.

45. "The political machine triumphs because it is a united minority acting against a divided majority."

― Will Durant.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 45 Best Will Durant Quotes From The American Writer And Philosopher, then why not take a look at Woodrow Wilson quotes, or Toussaint Louverture quotes.