Arnold Toynbee

It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.

Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder.

Civilization is a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbor.

We have been God-like in our planned breeding of our domesticated plants and animals, but we have been rabbit-like in our unplanned breeding of ourselves.

To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization.

The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.

America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room. Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair.

Civilizations in decline are consistently characterised by a tendency towards standardization and uniformity.

History is a vision of God’s creation on the move.

America is a large friendly dog in a small room. Every time it wags its tail it knocks over a chair.