LESSONS FROM THE STORY OF CIVILIZATION BY WILL DURANT

1.       The power of religion over the human mind is only as strong as the power of the stomach over the human mind. Nothing else influences mankind more than religion. Religion is not the opium of the masses, it is the fulcrum of civilization.

2.       More artists have lived and died in poverty than those who became wealthy. If you want to be an artist, consider the real possibility that poverty is lurking.

3.       Human nature has been the same throughout history. Man is the only thing that hasn’t changed. Geographies have changed. Governments have changed. Politics has changed. Economics has changed. But man, that crooked timber has remained the same.

4.       Geography is destiny. Countless artists and great men would have lived and died without anyone knowing them except for the fact that they changed address. Actually, some of would have been killed. They wouldn’t have lived long enough to make a difference.

5.       The role of luck in history is underrated. Extremely overrated. So much that happened in history depended on slim chances that could have failed and sometimes could have succeeded.

6.       The people who make the most impact on history are often those who know it.

7.       Those who understand men and human nature are often better leaders than those who don’t. You can disagree with the nature of man but you can’t ignore it. The wisest leaders are often those who understood and walked with it.

8.       Development is a business of the elite. It is those who have conquered the basic problem of survival that have the courage to idealize. 

9.       Every nation has the chance to become great. Every nation. All the countries mentioned had at various points became greater than their peers, eventually they fell.

10.   No nation becomes great by coincidence. None! It is always a product of excellent leadership. Always.

11.   Most of history is unrecorded. The things recorded are the exceptional things.

12.   It is far easier to change a country by changing a few leaders, than to change the whole population.

13.   Revolutions were the norm in human societies. Only democracy and wealth creation reduced the frequency of revolutions.