William & Ariel Durant

The Gentle Philosophers
William James Durant 
​(November 5, 1885 – November 7, 1981) was an American writer, historian, and philosopher. He became best known for his work The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife, Ariel Durant, and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for The Story of Philosophy (1926), described as "a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy"
The Durants died within two weeks of each other in 1981 and are buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. ​
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Durant

Will Durant Foundation

The Center for the Advancement of the Writings and Teachings of Will and Ariel Durant

http://will-durant.com/
In 1975 The New York Times stated that Will and Ariel Durant were "The greatest historians of our time." In addition to the Pulitzer prize the ...

The Story of Philosophy

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The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers 
by Will Durant  (Author)
​A brilliant and concise account of the lives and ideas of the great philosophers, from Plato to Dewey.
Few write for the non-specialist as well as Will Durant, and this book is a splendid example of his eminently readable scholarship. Durant’s insight and wit never cease to dazzle; The Story of Philosophy is a key book for anyone who wishes to survey the history and development of philosophical ideas in the Western world.
Philosophers profiled:
  • Plato (with a section on Socrates),
  • Aristotle,
  • Francis Bacon,
  • Baruch Spinoza (with a section on Descartes),
  • Voltaire (with a section on Rousseau),
  • Immanuel Kant (with a section on Hegel),
  • Arthur Schopenhauer,
  • Herbert Spencer, 
  • Friedrich Nietzsche.​

The Story of Philosophy 

The Story of Philosophy - Will Durant
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Will Durant-The Philosophy of Plato

​Will Durant-The Story of Philosophy-The Philosophy of Plato

The Story of Philosophy | Will Durant | Book Summary

​👉 DOWNLOAD THIS FREE PDF SUMMARY BELOW https://go.bestbookbits.com/freepdf

The Best Intro to Philosophy Book - The Story of Philosophy

​This is my review for the Story of Philosophy by Will Durant. My favorite intro to philosophy book of all time. Get it online here: http://tinyurl.com/StoryofPhilosophy

Other Works:

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The Lessons of History
by Will Durant & Ariel Durant 
​A concise survey of the culture and civilization of mankind, The Lessons of History is the result of a lifetime of research from Pulitzer Prize–winning historians Will and Ariel Durant.

With their accessible compendium of philosophy and social progress, the Durants take us on a journey through history, exploring the possibilities and limitations of humanity over time. Juxtaposing the great lives, ideas, and accomplishments with cycles of war and conquest, the Durants reveal the towering themes of history and give meaning to our own.

Audiobook: The Lessons of History
​by Will & Ariel Durant

Will & Ariel Durant spent more than four decades writing The Story of Civilization, ... an in-depth treatment of the impact of geography on government and politics].
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On the Meaning of Life
by Will Durant
​In the Fall of 1930 Will Durant found himself outside his home in Lake Hill, New York, raking leaves. He was approached by a well-dressed man who told him in a quiet tone that he was going to kill himself unless the philosopher could give him a valid reason not to. Not having the time to wax philosophic on the matter, Durant did his best to furnish the man with reasons to continue his existence. Haunted by the encounter with the despondent stranger, Durant contacted 100 luminaries in the arts, politics, religion and sciences, challenging them to respond not only to the fundamental question of life's meaning (in the abstract) but also to relate how they each (in the particular) found meaning, purpose and fulfillment in their own lives. Durant turned their answers and his own into a book entitled "On The Meaning Of Life", which was released to the general public in 1932. 
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Heroes of History: A Brief History of Civilization from Ancient Times to the Dawn of the Modern Age 
by Will Durant 
In the tradition of his own bestselling masterpieces The Story of Civilization and The Lessons of History, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Will Durant traces the lives and ideas of those who have helped to define civilization, from its dawn to the beginning of the modern world.
Heroes of History is a book of life-enhancing wisdom and optimism, complete with Durant's wit, knowledge, and unique ability to explain events and ideas in simple, exciting terms. It is the lessons of our heritage passed on for the edification and benefit of future generations—a fitting legacy from America's most beloved historian and philosopher.​
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The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time
by Will Durant 
A wise and witty compendium of the greatest thoughts, greatest minds, and greatest books of all time—listed in accessible and succinct form—by one of the world's greatest scholars.
From the “Hundred Best Books” to the “Ten Greatest Thinkers” to the “Ten Greatest Poets,” here is a concise collection of the world’s most significant knowledge. For the better part of a century, Will Durant dwelled upon—and wrote about—the most significant eras, individuals, and achievements of human history. His selections have finally been brought together in a single, compact volume. Durant eloquently defends his choices of the greatest minds and ideas, but he also stimulates readers into forming their own opinions, encouraging them to shed their surroundings and biases and enter “The Country of the Mind,” a timeless realm where the heroes of our species dwell.
From a thinker who always chose to exalt the positive in the human species, The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time stays true to Durant's optimism. This is a book containing the absolute best of our heritage, passed on for the benefit of future generations. Filled with Durant's renowned wit, knowledge, and unique ability to explain events and ideas in simple and exciting terms, this is a pocket-size liberal arts and humanist curriculum in one volume.

Will Durant---The Greatest Minds And Ideas of All Time

​Will Durant---The Greatest Minds And Ideas of All Time for those of you who want to download this as audio for your iPod or whatever you can use this site http://www.convertfiles.com/

The Story of Civilization

​Story of Civilization
by Will Durant  (Author), Ariel Durant (Author)
​The Complete Story of Civilization by Will Durant represents the most comprehensive attempt in our times to embrace the vast panorama of man’s history and culture. This eleven-volume set includes: 
  • Volume One - Our Oriental Heritage (1935)
  • Volume Two - The Life of Greece (1939)
  • Volume Three - Caesar and Christ (1944)
  • Volume Four - The Age of Faith (1950)
  • Volume Five - The Renaissance (1953)
  • Volume Six - The Reformation (1957)
  • Volume Seven - The Age of Reason Begins (1961)
  • Volume Eight - The Age of Louis XIV (1963)
  • Volume Nine - The Age of Voltaire (1965)
  • Volume Ten - Rousseau and Revolution (1967)
  • Volume Eleven - The Age of Napoleon (1975)

The Durants - Will & Ariel Durant - The Story of Civilization Documentary

The Story of Civilization: Rousseau and Revolution, by Will and Ariel Durant ... and its often-devastating consequences for citizens and communities of color.

YouTube Resources:

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Our Oriental Heritage: Introduction---The Establishment of Civilization

​Our Oriental Heritage: Introduction---The Establishment of Civilization

01 - Our Oriental Heritage - Durant, Will

​Our Oriental Heritage (Volume 1): Will Durant opens his massive survey of civilized history with a sweeping look at the Orient: the Egyptians, who perfected monumental architecture, medicine and mummification; the Babylonians, who developed astronomy and physics; the Judeans, who preserved their culture in the immortal books of the Old Testament; and the Persians, who ruled the largest empire in recorded history before Rome.
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​The Story of Civilization - Our Oriental Heritage (Vol I)
by Will Durant
​52 videos
This is the classic reference on world history, recognized as the most comprehensive general history ever written, the result of four decades of work by Will and Ariel Durant -- a set that The New York Times called "a splendid, broad panorama of hereditary culture in words and images that the layman can fully understand." This series began as an effort to write a history on the nineteenth century, an undertaking that Will Durant realized could only be understood in terms of what had come before. So the Durants embarked on an encyclopedic survey of all civilization, ancient and modern, Occidental and Oriental.
Abstract: In a review of Will and Ariel Durant's 11-volume series The Story of ... The same history that is governed so rigidly by cause and effect, ...

Will Durant Series

67 videos 73,948 views Last updated on Aug 8, 2018

Will Durant---The Renaissance

Other Resources on
​Will & Ariel Durant: Interviews & Acknowledgement

Will Durant On Equality

​Pulitzer Prize winner and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Will Durant gave over a thousand lectures during the 20th century. The following is an excerpt from a recording of his speech "The Roosevelt Revolution" given at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan on December 10, 1933. The audio recording of this entire speech was recently discovered on a series of aluminum discs by the Will Durant Timeline Project, which had the recordings transferred to digital and restored for presentation. This speech has not been heard since the time of its original presentation in 1933.

Ship's Reporter Interview: Will Durant

​Interviewed by Jack Mangan.

Interview with the Durants

Interview with Will and (a little bit of) Arial Durant. Many thanks to the person who prompted me to procure this by asking if there are any recordings of Durant's voice.
Will Durant, a historian and philosopher who won a Pulitzer Prize with his wife, Ariel, for a volume of their ''Story of Civilization,'' died late ...
Fallen Leaves,” the last words of Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Will ... In 1968, he won a Pulitzer Prize (shared with Ariel Durant, his wife and ...