"I do not believe that civilizations have to die because civilization is not an organism. It is a product of wills"
- Arnold J. Toynbee
About this Quote
Arnold J. Toynbee's quote recommends that civilizations do not have to pass away due to the fact that they are not living organisms. Rather, civilizations are the item of the cumulative will of the people who inhabit them. This indicates that civilizations can be continual and even surpassed if the people who populate them are willing to collaborate to make it happen. Toynbee's quote recommends that civilizations are not predetermined to die, however rather, they are the outcome of the cumulative will of the people who occupy them. This implies that if individuals want to interact and make the necessary modifications, then civilizations can be sustained and even surpassed. Toynbee's quote is a reminder that civilizations are not predetermined to die, however rather, they are the product of the cumulative will of individuals who occupy them.
"While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has created palaces, but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings"