Kultura i cywilizacja : od Cycerona do Konecznego

: ouvre à la philosophie les plus intimes parties de ton âme et prends pour mesure de tes progrès non tes discours ni tes écrits, mais l'affermissement de tes principes et la diminution de tes désirs.

The civilized man is distinguished from the savage mainly by prudence, or, to use a slightly wider term, forethought. He is willing to endure present pains for the sake of future pleasures, even if the future pleasures are rather distant. This habit began to be important with the rise of agriculture; no animal and no savage would work in the spring

For Aristotle, the evolution of human culture is in large part the evolution of tekhnê.

Via this quest for status, “the first true steps are taken from barbarism to culture, which in fact consists in the social worthiness of man.” Thus commences “a continued process of enlightenment” as “all man’s talents are now gradually developed, his taste cultivated.”