“The ultimate tendency of civilization is toward barbarism.”
Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare Guesses at Truth (London: Macmillan, ([1827-48] 1867) p. 459.
Misattributed
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David Hare17
British writer 1947Related quotes
Nick Land (1962) British philosopher
"A Republic, If You Can Keep It" https://web.archive.org/web/20140327090001/http://www.thatsmags.com/shanghai/articles/12321 (2013) (original emphasis)
“The ultimate tendency of liberalism is vegetarianism.”
Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, film maker, actor and political candidate
Herbst Theater, San Francisco City Arts & Lectures Series, (5 February 2007)
“There is no document of civilization that is not also a document of barbarism.”
Walter Benjamin book Theses on the Philosophy of History
Variant: There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism.
Source: Theses on the Philosophy of History (1940), VII
Source: On the Concept of History
“Civilization without its appliances is weaker than barbarism.”
Theodore Winthrop book The Canoe and the Saddle
The Canoe and the Saddle: Adventures Among the Northwestern Rivers and Forests (1863), ch. ix: Via Mala.
“If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.”
Thomas Sowell (1930) American economist, social theorist, political philosopher and author
Source: Knowledge And Decisions
“America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) French Post-Impressionist artist
Original: Votre œil bleu du nord regardait attentivement les tableaux pendus aux murs. J’eus comme le pressentiment d’une révolte : tout un choc entre votre civilisation et ma barbarie. Civilisation dont vous souffrez. Barbarie qui est pour moi un rajeunissement.
Source: 1890s - 1910s, The Writings of a Savage (1996), p. 105: quote from his letter to August Strindberg (5 May 1895)