In Search of Civilization Quotes

“The tragic sense of life has its origin in our determination to carry off two incompatible, but equally serious, ambitions: to search for meaning and to face reality. An intense, unceasing demand for meaning - the longing for life to make benevolent, beautiful sense - is coupled with the dawning, appalling fact that it does not, in the end, make sense in that way. Tragedy is the name for horror seen against the backdrop of love.

This is an area in which civilization does not reduce our suffering - does not make life more pleasing or comfortable. What is the achievement of tragedy? It is to present the deepest sorrows of the human condition: what we love is terribly vulnerable; each life is a brief, scarring moment in the wastes of eternity; our transient existence will be marked by depression, confusion, and fear ... The ambition of tragedy is to hold such intelligent fears in a ceremonial act endowed with splendour and grace.

The ceremony does not overcome our fears. But, unlike horror, it does not seek to stoke anxiety. The tragic view is, really, a determination to hold on to nobility, love and beauty - even while knowing the worst about ourselves.”
― John Armstrong, In Search of Civilization

“There is a moment in conversation - and I wish it came more often - when we change gear; it is usually getting late, and somebody takes a risk. Gradually, intimate trust and relaxation have met; perhaps we have had a few glasses of wine ... We lean forward: ‘Here's how I *really* see life’; ‘To be completely honest, this is what I think.’ We have cut loose from complaint , from defence, from the clever display of information. Now it's what we love, what we hold dear; what it is like to be you. In pursuit of romance, this would be the moment when flirtation has succeeded: it is no longer a question of teasing and probing while keeping one eye on the exit. We know we do not need the getaway car any more. One life opens to another life.”
― John Armstrong, In Search of Civilization

“Reflection on the places and sights that seem to show us the essence of civilization supports the view that it has an ideal aspect: civilization is not so much what we have as a picture of what we need. For me, some representative objects civilization are, to start the list: the classical squares and crescents of the New Town in Edinburgh; a table set for lunch in a quiet, leafy garden; Venice seen across the lagoon; the golden glow of lamplight in a bookish room, glimpsed through a window walking home at night from the station. What they suggest moves beyond what they actually are: they point to an ideal, even when they fall short in reality”
― John Armstrong, In Search of Civilization

“Triumphant vulgarity rules the world (it is said) because the democratic numbers and the market forces always win. Once you have markets, cultural democracy and freedom of opinion, questions about merit and meaning will always be settled by majorities and money. Bot majorities and money have no real authority on questions of value.”
― John Armstrong, In Search of Civilization