Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. – H.G. Wells, The Outline of History

It is impossible to overlook the extent to which civilization is built upon a renunciation of instinct. – Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents

Is man’s civilization only a wrappage, through which the savage nature of him can still burst, infernal as ever? – Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution, vol III, book V, chapter 7

It must be admitted that there is a degree of instability which is inconsistent with civilization. But, on the whole, the great ages have been unstable ages. – Alfred North Whitehead