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What made the West successful was neither capitalism, nor science, nor an historical accident such as a favourable geography. Instead, political and mental diversity combined to create an ever changing panorama of technologically creative societies.

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More quotes by Joel Mokyr

Technological systems, like all cultural systems, must have some built-in stability.

The physical and social environment is important in determining the actions of individuals, although it is not solely responsible for the outcome.

If England led the rest of the world in the Industrial Revolution, it was despite, not because of her formal education system.

By ignoring and evading rather than altogether abolishing obsolete rules and regulations, eighteenth century Britain moved slowly toward a free market society.

As Hooykaas (1972, p. 101) argued, the pervasiveness of religion meant that for any idea to become socially acceptable, it made a huge difference whether it was resisted, tolerated, or sponsored by prevalent religious beliefs.

Joel Mokyr (2016)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Joel Mokyr (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.