This quote by Arnold J. Toynbee recommends that civilizations are most likely to decrease and eventually die due to their own actions, instead of by external forces. This could be interpreted as a warning to civilizations to be mindful of their own actions and to take obligation for their own fate. Toynbee is suggesting that civilizations ought to be aware of the consequences of their own choices and actions, and that they ought to take actions to ensure their own survival. He is likewise indicating that civilizations ought to know the potential for self-destruction, and that they need to take actions to avoid it. This quote works as a pointer that civilizations ought to know their own actions and take obligation for their own fate, as it is eventually their own choices and actions that will determine their future.
"The head of the CIA, it seems to me, would think long and hard before he admitted that former employees of his had been involved in the murder of the President of the United States-even if they weren't acting on behalf of the Agency when they did it"
"It's frightening how easy it is to commit murder in America. Just a drink too much. I can see myself doing it. In England, one feels all the social restraints holding one back. But here, anything can happen"
