Big Idea Daily | Heroes of History
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A Brief History of Civilization from Ancient Times to the Dawn of the Modern Ageby Will Durant |
“Philosophy is the study of the part in the light of the whole; and its first lesson is that we are very small parts of a very large whole. The harmony of the part with the whole may be the best definition of health, beauty, truth, wisdom, morality, and happiness.”WILL DURANT |
BIG IDEA
Meet Your Heroic Guide
FROM THE BOOK“This last book of Will Durant’s is not merely a collection of dates, personalities, and events—nor simply a précis of his masterwork The Story of Civilization.
It is the lessons of our heritage passed on for the edification and benefit of future generations. It is a keyhole through which we can spy, in Durant’s words,
... a celestial city, a special Country of the Mind, wherein a thousand saints, statesmen, inventors, scientists, poets, artists, musicians, lovers, and philosophers still live and speak, teach, and carve and sing.
Heroes of History is Will Durant’s last testament to the benediction offered by that ‘Country of the Mind’ which he loved and dedicated so much of his life to revealing to us. Through the enchantment of his words, its borders are opened and our souls are beckoned in to visit for a while with the people who are willing to walk with us and tell us tales of life, love, war, poetry, and thought, and offer to uplift us to a greater and nobler perspective of tolerance, wisdom, and a more avid love of a deepened life.”
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Brian's Notes
Those are the final words of the introduction written by a guy named John Little.
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You may not know who John Little is, but we have him to thank for discovering this manual TWENTY years after Will Durant passed away and then doing the hard work to get it published so we could benefit from its wisdom.
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It makes me think about the fact that Epictetus never wrote a book. We have his student Arrian to thank for taking good notes and sharing what he learned. (Thanks, Arrian!) Same goes with Socrates. Thanks, Plato, for sharing his wisdom!
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Now, right before that passage, John tells us that Will wrote this book between the ages of 94 and 96. (Goosebumps.) Let’s take a moment to pause and reflect on that.
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And, if you feel so inspired, let’s say a silent prayer that you and I will be ALIVE at 94 let alone creating something brilliant at that age. At that stage, Will had spent over SIXTY years mastering his craft. He spent FIFTY years on ONE book.
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Will considered himself a philosopher who wrote history and said: “To me, history is a part of philosophy. Philosophy is an attempt to achieve a wide perspective, a large perspective of life and reality—a large perspective that will determine your attitude toward any part of reality or life... I said that I will study history to find out what man is—I can’t find that out through science. So that history is the attempt to achieve philosophical perspective by a study of events in time. Consequently, if you will allow me to say it, I believe I am a philosopher writing history.”
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With that quick intro to our Heroic Guide, let’s explore a few of his Heroes of History!
Big Ideas
01: MEET YOUR HEROIC GUIDE
02: CONFUCIUS
03: PERICLES
04: JESUS
05: MICHELANGELO
“History is philosophy teaching by examples.”WILL DURANT |
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