"Clashes of values and the struggle for primacy constitute a constant in human history that accounts ..." — Charles Krauthammer

As most who have engaged in competitive sports know, there's nothing to match the amplitude of emotion brought by losing.

Every civilization is founded on sins - every single one. Dispossession, violence, appropriation. What distinguishes civilizations are the ones who rise above it.

In the end, what brings civilizations down is when the elites lose confidence in the rightness of their cause.

There was once a philosopher who said, 'I don't believe in God, but I fear him greatly.' That's about where I am.