Thomas Sowell (1930) American economist, social theorist, political philosopher and author
Wimps Versus Barbarians http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2013/05/21/wimps-versus-barbarians-n1601497/page/full, May 21, 2013 <br class="br">2010s
“Barbarians always think of themselves as the bringers of civilization.”
Pierre Schaeffer: an Interview with the Pioneer of Musique Concrete (Records Quarterly magazine, vol. 2, n° 1; 1987)
Interviews
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Pierre Schaeffer8
French musicologist 1910–1995Related quotes
“In the long run, the aggressive civilizations destroy themselves, almost always.”
Carl Sagan book Contact
Source: Contact (1985), Chapter 20 (p. 359)
Context: In the long run, the aggressive civilizations destroy themselves, almost always. It’s their nature. They can’t help it.
“Anyone can be a barbarian; it requires a terrible effort to remain a civilized man.”
Leonard Woolf (1880–1969) English political theorist, author, publisher and civil servant
Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar-- a professor of English literature, a literary critic, and a …
Source: 1960s, The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962), p. 30
Julian (emperor) (331–363) Roman Emperor, philosopher and writer
Julian, on the songs of the early Germans. As quoted in his Mispogon.
General sources
Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) American author
From a letter to H. P. Lovecraft (5 December 1935)
Letters
Context: You express amazement at my statement that 'civilized' men try to justify their looting, butchering and plundering by claiming that these things are done in the interests of art, progress and culture. That this simple statement of fact should cause surprize, amazes me in return. People claiming to possess superior civilization have always veneered their rapaciousness by such claims...
Your friend Mussolini is a striking modern-day example. In that speech of his I heard translated he spoke feelingly of the expansion of civilization. From time to time he has announced; 'The sword and civilization go hand in hand!' 'Wherever the Italian flag waves it will be as a symbol of civilization!' 'Africa must be brought into civilization!' It is not, of course, because of any selfish motive that he has invaded a helpless country, bombing, burning and gassing both combatants and non-combatants by the thousands. Oh, no, according to his own assertions it is all in the interests of art, culture and progress, just as the German war-lords were determined to confer the advantages of Teutonic Kultur on a benighted world, by fire and lead and steel. Civilized nations never, never have selfish motives for butchering, raping and looting; only horrid barbarians have those.
Karl Marx (1818–1883) German philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist and revolutionary socialist
Grundrisse (1857-1858)
Source: Introduction, p. 25.
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America
Letter to Alexander von Humboldt (6 December 1813) <br class="br"> Scanned letter at The Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mtj1&fileName=mtj1page047.db&recNum=74&itemLink=/ammem/mtjhtml/mtjser1.html&linkText=7 <br class="br"> Transcript at The Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field(DOCID+@lit(tj110127)) <br class="br">1810s