Civilizations grow by agreements and accomodations and accretions, not by repudiations. The rebels and the revolutionaries are only eddies, they keep the stream from getting stagnant but they get swept down and absorbed, they're a side issue. Quiet desperation is another name for the human condition. If revolutionaries would learn that they can't remodel society by day after tomorrow -- haven't the wisdom to and shouldn't be permitted to -- I'd have more respect for them .. Civilizations grow and change and decline -- they aren't remade. Wallace Stegner
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Civilizations grow by agreements and accomodations and accretions, not by repudiations. The rebels and the revolutionaries are only eddies, they keep the stream from getting stagnant but they get swept down and absorbed, they're a side issue. Quiet desperation is another name for the human condition. If revolutionaries would learn that they can't remodel society by day after tomorrow -- haven't the wisdom to and shouldn't be permitted to -- I'd have more respect for them ...

Civilizations grow and change and decline -- they aren't remade.The idea of civilizational change is often interpreted as if it were some type of linear or continuous process. A new civilization is formed in one place, spreads elsewhere, then declines until it is extinguished elsewhere. This interpretation is oversimplified and misleading.

Many civilizations exist at once; at any given time, there are multiple civilizations in different parts of the world.

Source: Angle Of Repose

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