"It is not yet settled whether civilization has always come from the lower to the higher. The same arguments and proofs that have been brought forward to prove this proposition can also be used to demonstrate that the savage is only a degraded civilised man. The people of China, for instance, can never believe that civilization sprang from a savage state, because the contrary is within their experience... It is very easy to believe that the Hindus, who have been declining for seven hundred years, were highly civilised in the past. We cannot prove that it is not so."

- Swami Vivekananda, "Hints on Practical Spirituality" (Spiritual Breathing, Dec 29, 1899, Los Angeles Home of Truth), Complete Works: Vol 2