“The nearer a civilization comes to its death pangs, the more diverse and conflicting the philosophies of civilization that it spawns. Such philosophies strike the best-seller lists, enter into dining room discussions, and become the stock-in-trade of jesters and newscasters. so it develops that everyone who discusses current affairs becomes a philosopher of history, and coteries form around the more vociferous and persuasive interpreters. Fearing at any moment the eruption of volcanoes, men carry with them a portable seismograph and try to interpret the movements of the nervous needle. Almost hysterically they follow its jerky course. And they choose their authorities by finding a name of importance to support their own graph. . . . Under these conditions any of these interpretations becomes a fad.”
~ Paul Minear, The Kingdom and the Power, 24.
Minear is a legend. I have collected a serious of awesome quotes from his book The Bible and the Historian here.