William James Durant (1885–1981) was an American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife, Ariel Durant, and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for The Story of Philosophy, described as “a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy”.
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Every form of government tends to perish by excess of its basic principles.
—Will Durant
Topics: Government
Never mind your happiness; do your duty.
—Will Durant
Topics: Action, Responsibility, Happiness
Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art.
—Will Durant
Topics: Science
Every vice was once a virtue, and may become respectable again, just as hatred becomes respectable in wartime.
—Will Durant
Perhaps our supercilious disgust with existence is a cover for a secret disgust with ourselves; we have botched and bungled our lives, and we cast the blame upon the environment or the world, which have no tongues to utter a defense. The mature man accepts the natural limitations of life; he does not expect Providence to be prejudiced in his favor; he does not ask for loaded dice to play the game of life. He knows, with Carlyle, that there is no sense in vilifying the sun because it will not light our cigars. And perhaps, if we are clever enough to help it, the sun will even do that; and this vast neutral cosmos may turn out to be a pleasant place enough if we bring a little sunshine of our own to help it out. In truth, the world is neither with us or against us; it is but raw material in our hands, and can be heaven or hell according to what we are.
—Will Durant
Topics: Luck
Inquiry is fatal to certainty.
—Will Durant
Topics: Certainty
India was the motherland of our race and Sanskrit the mother of Europe’s languages. India was the mother of our philosophy, of much of our mathematics, of the ideals embodied in Christianity… of self-government and democracy. In many ways, Mother India is the mother of us all.
—Will Durant
There is nothing in socialism that a little age or a little money will not cure.
—Will Durant
Topics: Communism
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