Civilisation

We have the idea that the civilisation we are talking about - ours - is in itself something great and beautiful; something too which is nobler, more comfortable, and better, both morally and materially speaking, than anything outside it - savagery, barbarity, or semi-civilisation ... we are confident that such civilisation, in which we participate, in which we propogate, benefit from and popularize, bestows on us all a certain value, prestige and dignity.

Lucien Febvre (1930).