[Quix]

What was Will and/or Ariel Durant's answer when asked to summarize all they'd learned from 2 lifetimes of studying all of recorded history into one sentence?

I think it was something to the effect of

LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

They were quite a couple.

[beyond the sea]

Yes, I think they were married for about 80 years.

http://www.willdurant.com/ariel.htm

****

Ariel Durant started as Will Durant’s student, became his wife and then his equal. A brilliant conversationalist and sharp debater, Ariel’s intellect blossomed under the guidance of the man whom she referred to as her "teacher, lover, mentor and friend," Will Durant.

To Will Durant, she was the embodiment of life itself; fun loving, controversial, unafraid to speak her mind (in fact, refusing to do otherwise) and a champion of women’s rights. Born Chaya, which means "life" (Ida in English) Kaufman on May 10, 1898 in Proskurov (now Khmelnitski) Russia to Jewish parents, Chaya immigrated with her mother, three sisters and older brother to the United States, landing in New York in November of 1901, Chaya would grow up on the streets and learn to fight and fend for herself at an early age.

At the age of 13 she discovered the Ferrer School, which specialized in libertarian education. Not long after she began attending, a young man by the name of Will Durant signed on to be a teacher in that institution. He immediately was attracted to the young student, who reminded him so much of a sprite that he nicknamed her "Puck." According to Ariel’s recollection: Will for years called me Puck, from one of Shakespeare’s flighty fairies; but in his premature autobiography, Transition (1927), he rechristened me Ariel, from another fairy – forgetting that they were both male. This has become my legal name…

By the time she reached the age of 15, teacher and student had fallen in love. Realizing the potential problems that would attend such a student-teacher relationship, Durant resigned his position and spoke to Chaya’s mother about marriage. Despite some initial misgivings, Mrs. Kaufman in time gave her consent to the union and accompanied Will Durant to City Hall to witness the marriage. Chaya herself almost missed the service, as she had opted to roller skate to the locale and, to everyone’s relief (and after one or two falls en route) Chaya arrived at City Hall – out of breath, but ready to start a new chapter in her life as a married woman.

[beyond the sea]

It was 68 years.....

[beyond the sea]

Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks. Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for the river. --- Will Durant

Love that man.......