Quotes
“The fear of death is strangely mingled with the longing for repose.”
"I found it impossible to continue my pretenses to orthodoxy” "
Knowledge is power but only wisdom is liberty.”
“Education is the transmission of civilization.”
“To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. Nothing is often a good thing to say, and always a clever thing to say.”
“Truth will make us free.”
(This could be considered his most important work)
Durant wrote the preface to Fallen Leaves when he was 95 years old, and in answer to those curious readers, he said: “Please do not expect any new system of philosophy, nor any world-shaking cogitations; these will be human confessions, not divine revelations; they are micro- or mini-essays whose only dignity lies in their subjects rather than in their profundity or their size.”
Even though he says that he isn’t going to bring us deep insight and great depth of knowledge or thought, the book still leaves us waiting for it.
The 22 chapters condense his thoughts of sixty-plus years of his work, researching the philosophies, religions, arts, sciences, and civilizations of the world.
