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| I believe in the principle of Due Process  |
Speaking of Will Durant...... "When liberty becomes license, dictatorship is near." -- Will Durant Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me. When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown | ||
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It must be near then. NRA Life Endowment member Tri-State Gun collectors Life Member | |||
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Drug Dealer |
My favorite Will Durant quote: "One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say." When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth. - George Bernard Shaw | |||
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| I believe in the principle of Due Process |
Speaking of Will Durant, has anyone read his opus magnum, "The Complete Story of Civilization?" It's apparently 11 volumes. I'm tempted to buy the whole shebang, for $100 on my Kindle. Being a value investor, I want to have reason to think it is worth it, with a margin for error. Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me. When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown | |||
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JALLEN: I've read the whole thing and it is magnificent. Durant is a terrific writer who "begs to be read out loud", someone said. The scope is unbelieveable and the research took him forty years. From the introduction to The Age of Reason: "This period was marked by a decline in murderous theology and a rise in murderous nationalism." I marked mine up so much I passed them to my son and got a clean set, which I am going to re-read when I retire in September. Well worth your time. | |||
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| I believe in the principle of Due Process |
Thanks. Being that I am a life long avid reader, you would think I would have encountered it before now. I guess I better get with it! Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me. When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown | |||
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Some other comments: After he was finished, he wrote the "Executive Summary", which is titled The Lessons of History. It is tiny by comparison, only 102 pages long. You may find it useful to start with that, then go begin the series. The other comment is he (and Ariel, his wife) wrote the volumes as stand-alones so you could just start with any one that covers a period that interests you the most. He ended with the French Revolution, because he felt we didn't yet understand anything that happened after that. I read the set for the first time just after graduate school, while I was in the Army. I had a job that required a lot of airplane and hotel time and so I just took one with me everywhere. It was one of the major milestones in my mental growth. I can't recommend it enough. | |||
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| I believe in the principle of Due Process |
I see the local library has it on the shelves. It's closed today. I'll be there Monday morning! Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me. When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown | |||
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| Drug Dealer |
I own a set that I bought from the Book of the Month Club back in the early 1970's. I read the first five or six volumes and then got sidetracked. It would be a good project to read the entire set all of the way through: the books are very readable. When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth. - George Bernard Shaw | |||
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I particularly enjoyed The Age of Faith, where he descirbes the rise of Christianity and Mohammed, and The Age of Reason Begins, when he describes the Enlightenment's beginnings. They are all good, just a worthwhile read to put things into context. Truly, he shows that there is nothing new under the sun. Has flashes of good humor, too. Talks at one point about an ancient king who had to sacrifice a virgin to appease the gods, so he killed his daughter. Gods were not appeased though. Durant dryly comments "perhaps he was mistaken about his daughter..." | |||
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| I believe in the principle of Due Process |
Hoooo, boy! Kindle offers a "free sample." I've taken advantage of that, and it is already paying off. You are right. It is an extraordinary read. Durant writes in good quotes, sentence after sentence. Here is one..... "Throughout the history of law the magnitude of the crime has been lessened by the magnitude of the criminal." What a find! Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me. When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown | |||
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| I believe in the principle of Due Process |
These things happen!  Harry Truman said "the only thing new in the world is history you don't know." Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me. When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown | |||
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