We Americans are the best informed people on earth as to the events of the last twenty-four hours we are the not the best informed as the events of the last sixty centuries.

Durant contrasts Americans’ intense attention to immediate news with a comparative neglect of long historical perspective. The “last twenty-four hours” stands for the daily churn of headlines, while “the last sixty centuries” evokes the deep record of human experience—political rise and fall, cultural patterns, and recurring moral and social dilemmas. The remark reflects Durant’s lifelong argument that history is not antiquarian trivia but a practical guide: without knowledge of long-term continuities, citizens are more easily swayed by novelty, propaganda, and short-term passions. Implicitly, he urges education and public discourse to balance current events with historical understanding so that democratic judgment is better informed.