Teaser Tuesday (30 August)

The last Tuesday of the month already? Oy, the time flies.

Civilization is the union of soil and soul -- the resources of the earth transformed by the desire and discipline of men. Behind the facade and under the burden, of courts and palaces, temples and schools, letters and luxuries and arts, stands the basic man: the hunter bringing game from the woods; the woodman felling the forest; the herdsman pasturing and breeding his flock; the peasant clearing, plowing, sowing, cultivating, reaping, tending the orchard; the vine, the hive, and the brood; the woman absorbed in the hundred crafts and cares of a functioning home; the miner digging in the earth; the builder shaping homes and vehicles and ships; the artisan fashioning products and and tools; the pedlar, shopkeeper, and merchant uniting and dividing maker and users; the investor  fertilizing industry with his savings; the executive harnessing muscle, materials, and minds for the creation of services and goods. These are the patient yet restless leviathan on those swaying back civilization precariously rides.

p. 206, The Age of Faith. Will Durant.