The above quotation comes from the inestimable Rod Serling, from his ground breaking TV series, The Twilight Zone. That statement is apropos of today's society as it was just as applicable when it was first aired in 1961. It would behoove mankind to recognize that civilization cannot ever be successfully built upon lies, bombs, discrimination, hate, and all things of this same ilk, for each of these bad traits has in common, that they are destructive in nature. Rather, for civilization to really take hold, the people that make up those communities must behave in a manner which demonstrates that they are first and foremost, sensible, as well as caring, empathetic, considerate, and desiring from their heart, the good for the other, which are all traits that are constructive in nature.
We then find, that those communities that lack the tangible beliefs and assets of a constructive nature, are not really civilized societies, though they may well have some of the civilized components that are necessary to create that civilized society. Nobody ever said that it would be easy to become civilized, for mankind has proven to have a rather nasty tendency to impulsively or to rashly strike out against others, and in particular against others, that thwart their particular desires and unbending will. The very first way to correct something such as that, is to recognize the truth of the statement, that we all are in this together; and thereby come to the sensible recognition that civilizations in order to be civilized must learn better how to compromise, to be more accommodating, to listen, and to truly put themselves in the shoes of the other, in which by doing such, the sooner that community will transform itself into being civilized.
Each of us learns from example, and too often examples place in front of virtually all of us, especially in the way that we interact with one another, demonstrates that to a depressingly high degree, that what we see or claim as being civilized, really is not; but rather has a lot more to do, with submission by one party to another, and thereby the use of power by the prevailing party to get their way, in which this injustice, writ large, is not right, and is not a component of how a vibrant civilized society comes into existence.
In point of fact, to become civilized is something that requires all parties to that society, being meaningful members of it; in which those members of that society have a specific doctrine in place, that is sound and liberating in its principle, and is applicable equally to each member of that society. Further, that society must be of the people, for the people, and by the people, in which the highest law of that land is natural law, as contrasted to corrupt law. These conditions are necessary in order to build the foundation that great civilizations are created from, and from that sound foundation, there will be built by the words, deeds, and hands of those people, justice and peace on earth, along with good will to all of mankind.