When you stand in front of the mirror, has it ever occurred to you that you belong to a particular civilization and that your clothes, your culture, your language and perhaps even some traits of your personalities are a sign of the particular civilization. The origin of civilization may interest you, but the growth of civilization is a much more important aspect of it. Growth is considered a sign of development of a civilization. In contrast, sustainable growth of civilization is something that would ensure the continuity of civilization's progress. In simpler words, civilization can be understood as "sophisticated and peaceful communities" existing on earth. Civilization differs from a society because civilization is marked by the growth of community while society can also remain static. According to Toynbee's theory, the life cycle of a civilization constitutes the birth, growth, and final breaking point of the civilization. Toynbee states that a civilization arises as a result of responding to the challenges it faces. For example, ancient civilization like that of Egypt was formed due to the physical challenges it faced in creating a settlement along the valley. Similarly, other ancient civilizations without predecessors formed as a result of its response to the physical challenges faced by civilization. After the birth of civilization, he goes through a period of growth and a final breaking point, where he is faced with a gregarious challenge that he cannot face. So civilization crumbles when it encounters external or internal attack or is swamped with another culture. (Blaha) For example, the civilization of Mesoamerica was eventually submerged along with that of Spain. (Guisepi)Hist...... middle of paper......growth born rather than growth that would gradually fade away. The growth of civilization is therefore an important aspect in the current arena of human civilizations. Works Cited Blaha, Stephen. The life cycle of civilizations. Pingree-Hill Publishing, 2002. Print.Brown, Lester. A. "Could food shortages bring down civilization?" Scientific American (2009): 38-45. Print.Guisepi, Robert. The ancient city of Jericho. Network. ‹http://history-world.org/ancient_civilization.htm›.Hamaker, John. The survival of civilization. Hamaker-Weaver, 2002. Print.History World. History of civilization. Web.‹http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab25›.Nafziger, E Wayne. Economic development. Cambridge University Press, 2006. Print.Newton007.com. Science and civilization. Network. ‹http://newton007.com/article/science-civilisation/›.