文明的轨迹粤语

well , naturally , these bright-minded, young people think poorly of existing institutions and want to abolish them. one doesn’t need to be young to dislike institutions. But the dreary fact remains that, even in the darkest ages is was institutions which made society work. And if civilization is to survive, society must ,somehow, be made to work. At this point ,I reveal myself in my true colors as a stick-in-the-mud. I hold a number of beliefs that have been repudiated by the liveliest intellects of our time.

I believe that order is better than chaos,

creation better than destruction,

I prefer gentleness to violence,

forgiveness to vendetta,

On the whole ,

I think that knowledge is preferable to ignorance,

and I am sure that human sympathy is more valuable than ideology.

I believe that , in spite of recent triumphs of science men haven’t changed much in the last 2,000 years. And , in consequence, we must still try to learn from history.

History is ourselves.

I also hold one or two beliefs that are more difficult to put shortly .

For example , I believe in courtesy, the ritual by which we avoid hurting other people’s feelings by satisfying our own egos and I think we should remember that we are part of a great whole,

which , for convenience , we call Nature.

All living things are our brothers and sisters.

Above all , I believe in the God-given genius of certain individuals, and I value a society that makes their existence possible .

These programs have been filled with great works of genius . In architecture ,sculpture and painting.

In philosophy ,poetry and music.In science and engineering. There they are. You can’t dismiss them. And they’re only a fraction of what Western Man has achieved in the last 1,000 years, often after setbacks and deviations, at least as destructive as those of our own time.

Western civilization has been a series of rebirths.

Surely ,this should give us confidence in ourselves. I said , at the beginning of the series, that it’s lack of confidence, more than anything else, that kills a civilisation. We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs.

50 years ago ,WB Yeats, who was more like a man of genius that anyone I’ve ever known, wrote a prophetic poem and in it he said “ Things fall apart ; the centre cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood - dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere. The ceremony of innocence is drowned . The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” Well , that was certainly true between the wars and it damn nearly destroyed us.

Is it true today?

Not quite, because good people have convictions ,rather too many of them. The trouble is that there is still no centre. The moral and intellectual failure of Marxism has left us with no alternative to heroic materialism, and that isn’t enough. One may be optimistic , but one can’t exactly be joyful at the prospect before us .