It is the West that has liberated women, racial minorities, religious minorities, and gays and lesbians, recognizing and defending their rights. The notions of freedom and human rights were present at the dawn of Western civilization, as ideals at least, but have gradually come to fruition through supreme acts of self-criticism.
Ibn WarraqDiscussions of Western civilization are too often confined to works of high art that reflect a relatively narrow element of public taste and experience.
Ibn WarraqWestern society is a society of ever richer, more varied, more productive, more self-defined, and more satisfying lives; it is a society of boundless private charity; it is a society that broke, on behalf of merit, the seemingly eternal chains of station by birth.
Ibn WarraqI always have tendency to form very strong local attachments, so I was very keen to find out about the school I was going to, its history, and the countryside. I was acquiring a kind of English character if you like, Englishness about things and my attitudes.
Ibn WarraqBeing from a minority culture, I realised the importance of looking at non-Western cultures in a positive way.
Ibn Warraq