A civilization is built on what is required of men, not on that which is provided for them.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I had faith in Israel before it was established, I have in it now. I believe it has a glorious future before it - not just another sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization.
Harry S. Truman

Civilization... wrecks the planet from seafloor to stratosphere.
Richard Bach

If there hadn't been women we'd still be squatting in a cave eating raw meat, because we made civilization in order to impress our girlfriends.
Orson Welles

Civilization and profit go hand in hand.
Calvin Coolidge

Civilization as it is known today could not have evolved, nor can it survive, without an adequate food supply.
Norman Borlaug

The destiny of world civilization depends upon providing a decent standard of living for all mankind.
Norman Borlaug

For me, politeness is a sine qua non of civilization.
Robert A. Heinlein

God isn't compatible with machinery and scientific medicine and universal happiness. You must make your choice. Our civilization has chosen machinery and medicine and happiness.
Aldous Huxley

New York... when civilization falls apart, remember, we were way ahead of you.
David Letterman

Civilization is a youth with a molotov cocktail in his hand. Culture is the Soviet tank or L.A. cop that guns him down.
Edward Abbey

Inventor: A person who makes an ingenious arrangement of wheels, levers and springs, and believes it civilization.
Ambrose Bierce

In our civilization, and under our republican form of government, intelligence is so highly honored that it is rewarded by exemption from the cares of office.
Ambrose Bierce

Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top.
Timothy Leary

Hold fast to the Bible. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization and to this we must look as our guide in the future.
Ulysses S. Grant

We say that slavery has vanished from European civilization, but this is not true. Slavery still exists, but now it applies only to women and its name is prostitution.
Victor Hugo

Jesus wept; Voltaire smiled. From that divine tear and from that human smile is derived the grace of present civilization.
Victor Hugo

Peace is the virtue of civilization. War is its crime.
Victor Hugo

Everybody thinks that this civilization has lasted a very long time but it really does take very few grandfathers' granddaughters to take us back to the dark ages.
Gertrude Stein

If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.
Thomas Sowell