Remember that I wrote on one of your posts that a definition of civilisation is men planting trees under whose shade they will never sit? I think an even better definition is men starting to build a cathedral, which they will never see finished. And maybe not even their children or grandchildren. No wonder Kenneth Clark said that he could recognise civilisation when he looked at it while looking at the Notre Dame.

That s true, and it s not due to any religious reasons.

http://www.unz.com/isteve/notre-dame/