Civilization: a thin veneer over barbarianism. – John M. Shanahan, The Most Brilliant Thoughts of All Time (In Two Lines or Less)

Man — despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments — owes his existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains. – Author and exact wording unknown, I’ve been told this was quoted by Paul H

Our concern is not how to worship in the catacombs but how to remain human in the skyscrapers. – Abraham Joshua Heschel

We are born princes and the civilizing process makes us frogs. – Syrus