Whoever lies in the language of words gives himself away in the language of gestures, which he does not notice…
Oswald Spengler on the language of lies, the press and war, and culture turning into civilisation.
civilisation
There is a pattern: civilisations rise when they are able to respond creatively to the challenges around them…
Arnold J. Toynbee on the pattern behind the rise and fall of civilisations, the components of culture and the surest way to reach a goal.
The lifespan of a dynasty rarely exceeds three generations…
Ibn Khaldun on the three-generation life of a dynasty, asabiyyah, the paradox of taxation, and how prejudice blinds the soul to the truth.
Ukraine, a new and important space on the Eurasian chessboard…
Zbigniew Brzezinski on Ukraine as the geopolitical pivot of Eurasia, and on how the West should deal with China.
The lifespan of a dynasty rarely exceeds three generations…
Ibn Khaldun on why dynasties seldom outlast three generations, and on asabiyyah as the force behind the rise and fall of civilisations.
Among the ancient Greeks, the ability to think was a high gift…
Erich Maria Remarque on how the ability to think has been recast, over the centuries, as happiness, then illness, and finally crime.