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"Historical methodology, as I see it, is a product of common sense applied to circumstances."
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"It always remains true that if we had been greater, circumstance would have been less strong against us."

"I would suggest that barbarism be considered as a permanent and universal human characteristic which becomes more or less pronounced according to the play of circumstances."

"Never under any circumstances take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night."

"You don't underestimate either players or audience in any circumstances."

"The rich are not born sceptical or cynical. They are made that way by events, circumstances."

"If one does not interfere in the obtained worldly life, then worldly life will run straight forward & smoothly. But one keeps interfering in the obtained worldly life. From the moment he wakes up, he interferes. If there is no interference in the unfolding circumstances one has obtained, then God's control will prevail, but by interfering one takes over the control himself."

"McCain I'd vote against under any circumstance."

"To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities."

"A pregnant woman facing the most dire circumstances must be able to count on her doctor to do what is medically necessary to protect her from serious physical harm."
Explore more quotes by Samuel E. Morison


"Too rigid specialization is almost as bad for a historian's mind, and for his ultimate reputation, as too early an indulgence in broad generalization and synthesis."


"Courses on historical methodology are not worth the time that they take up. I shall never give one myself, and I have observed that many of my colleagues who do give such courses refrain from exemplifying their methods by writing anything."


"Yet enthusiasm is no excuse for the historian going off balance. He should remind the reader that outcomes were neither inevitable nor foreordained, but subject to a thousand changes and chances."


"In any case, his judgment and set of values, acting alone or through his assistants, determine not only what is gold and what is dross but the design of the history which he creates out of the metal. The historian decides what is significant, and what is not."


"Skepticism is an important historical tool. It is the starting point of all revision of hitherto accepted history."


"The same contingencies of time and space that force a statesman or soldier to make decisions, impel the historian, though with less urgency, to make up his mind."


"Any child knows that history can only be a reduced representation of reality, but it must be a true one, not distorted by queer lenses."


"With honesty of purpose, balance, a respect for tradition, courage, and, above all, a philosophy of life, any young person who embraces the historical profession will find it rich in rewards and durable in satisfaction."
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