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"An author who sets about to depict events of the past that have run their course is suspected of wishing to avoid the problems of the present day, of being, in other words, a reactionary."
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Exlpore more Being quotes
"Great is the difference betwixt a man's being frightened at, and humbled for his sins."
"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."
"The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down."
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"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."
"And they write innumerable books; being too vain and distracted for silence: seeking every one after his own elevation, and dodging his emptiness."
Explore more quotes by Lion Feuchtwanger
"Ever since my youth it has disturbed me that of the literary works that survived their own epoch, so many dealt with historical rather than contemporary subjects."
"I have always made an effort to render every detail of my reality with the greatest accuracy; but I have never paid attention to whether my presentation of historical facts was an exact one."
"Asking the author of historical novels to teach you about history is like expecting the composer of a melody to provide answers about radio transmission."
"Like the philosopher, the author views his task as one of establishing a clear connection between life and history, and of making the past bear fruit for the present and future."
"Both the historian and the novelist view history as the struggle of a tiny minority, able and determined to make judgments, which is up against a vast and densely packed majority of the blind, who are led by their instincts and unable to think for themselves."
"I should add that it is open to debate whether what we call the writing of history these days is truly scientific."
"An action doesn't have to be wrong just because it is not logical. It doesn't have to be right just because it has its logic."
"There's only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous, but there's no road leading from the ridiculous to the sublime."
"What is a historian, anyway? It is someone who uses facts to record the development of humanity."
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