Quotes by Historian | Beyond Motive 14/30

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Quotes by Historian

"The immense cities lie basking on the beaches of the continent like whales that have taken to the land."

"The immense cities lie basking on the beaches of the continent like whales that have taken to the land."

Arnold J. Toynbee, British Historian

Lie, Cities, Land

13

"Your first duty as a writer is to write to please yourself. And you have no duty towards anyone else."

"Your first duty as a writer is to write to please yourself. And you have no duty towards anyone else."

Iris Chang, Chinese Historian

Duty, First, Writer

13

"All men's gains are the fruit of venturing."

"All men's gains are the fruit of venturing."

Herodotus, Greek Historian

13

"Men do not fight for flag or country, for the Marine Corps or glory or any other abstraction. They fight for one another. And if you came through this ordeal, you would age with dignity."

"Men do not fight for flag or country, for the Marine Corps or glory or any other abstraction. They fight for one another. And if you came through this ordeal, you would age with dignity."

William Manchester, American Historian

Age, Men, Country, Dignity

13

"Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty."

"Truth is confirmed by inspection and delay; falsehood by haste and uncertainty."

Tacitus, Roman Historian

Truth, Delay, Falsehood, Haste

13

"All good fortune is a gift of the gods, and you don't win the favor of the ancient gods by being good, but by being bold."

"All good fortune is a gift of the gods, and you don't win the favor of the ancient gods by being good, but by being bold."

Anita Brookner, English Historian

God, Gods, Being, Fortune

13

"A jacket commemorating the Germans as champions of the 1990 World Cup is out of date two weeks after the event has passed."

"A jacket commemorating the Germans as champions of the 1990 World Cup is out of date two weeks after the event has passed."

Thomas Harrison, American Historian

13

"The question of the family now divides our society so deeply that the opposing sides cannot even agree on a definition of the institution they are arguing about."

"The question of the family now divides our society so deeply that the opposing sides cannot even agree on a definition of the institution they are arguing about."

Christopher Lasch, American Historian

Family, Society, Now, Question

13

"Our knowledge is a receding mirage in an expanding desert of ignorance."

"Our knowledge is a receding mirage in an expanding desert of ignorance."

Will Durant, American Historian

Knowledge, Ignorance

13

"Biography is a very definite region bounded on the north by history, on the south by fiction, on the east by obituary, and on the west by tedium."

"Biography is a very definite region bounded on the north by history, on the south by fiction, on the east by obituary, and on the west by tedium."

Philip Guedalla, English Historian

History, Biography, Fiction

13

"It was clear that the special interest groups in California really wanted the Chinese to be shut out of the country, because that was where the racial tension was the greatest."

"It was clear that the special interest groups in California really wanted the Chinese to be shut out of the country, because that was where the racial tension was the greatest."

Iris Chang, Chinese Historian

Nation, Country, Interest, Tension

13

"The number one secret of being a successful writer is this: marry an English major."

"The number one secret of being a successful writer is this: marry an English major."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

Success, Successful, Being, English, Writer

13

"One friend in a lifetime is much, two are many, three are hardly possible. Friendship needs a certain parallelism of life, a community of thought, a rivalry of aim."

"One friend in a lifetime is much, two are many, three are hardly possible. Friendship needs a certain parallelism of life, a community of thought, a rivalry of aim."

Henry B. Adams, American Historian

Friendship, Life, Thought, Community

13

"Nixon regarded himself as having been cheated by life. He never got my vote."

"Nixon regarded himself as having been cheated by life. He never got my vote."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

Life, Nixon, Vote

13

"Their poverty secured their freedom, since our desires and our possessions are the strongest fetters of despotism."

"Their poverty secured their freedom, since our desires and our possessions are the strongest fetters of despotism."

Edward Gibbon, English Historian

Freedom, Possessions, Poverty

13

"One should always look to the end of everything, how it will finally come out. For the god has shown blessedness to many only to overturn them utterly in the end."

"One should always look to the end of everything, how it will finally come out. For the god has shown blessedness to many only to overturn them utterly in the end."

Herodotus, Greek Historian

13

"Most people no longer live in nuclear families at all."

"Most people no longer live in nuclear families at all."

Christopher Lasch, American Historian

13

"The Founding Fathers would be sorry to see that America had become so divided and factionalized."

"The Founding Fathers would be sorry to see that America had become so divided and factionalized."

Michael Beschloss, American Historian

America, Fathers, Founding

13

"Of the various forms of government which have prevailed in the world, an hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest scope for ridicule."

"Of the various forms of government which have prevailed in the world, an hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest scope for ridicule."

Edward Gibbon, English Historian

Government, Present, Ridicule, World

13

"The prejudices of ignorance are more easily removed than the prejudices of interest; the first are all blindly adopted, the second willfully preferred."

"The prejudices of ignorance are more easily removed than the prejudices of interest; the first are all blindly adopted, the second willfully preferred."

George Bancroft, American Historian

Society, First, Ignorance, Interest

13

"People who jump to conclusions rarely alight on them."

"People who jump to conclusions rarely alight on them."

Philip Guedalla, English Historian

13

"Johnson had been the most powerful man in the world, yet the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong had resisted, overcome his power, broken his will."

"Johnson had been the most powerful man in the world, yet the North Vietnamese and the Vietcong had resisted, overcome his power, broken his will."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

Power, Man, Will, World

13

"The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners."

"The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners."

Thomas B. Macaulay, English Historian

Man, Men, Knowledge, Logic, Theory

13

"Souls reconstructed with faith transform agony into peace."

"Souls reconstructed with faith transform agony into peace."

Aberjhani, American Historian

Spiritual, Faith, Transformation, Peace, Hope

13

"The rise of the Dutch Republic must ever be regarded as one of the leading events of modern times."

"The rise of the Dutch Republic must ever be regarded as one of the leading events of modern times."

John Lothrop Motley, American Historian

Events, Leading

13

"Our New England climate is mild and equable compared with that of the Platte."

"Our New England climate is mild and equable compared with that of the Platte."

Francis Parkman, American Historian

Climate, England

13

"Every successful revolution puts on in time the robes of the tyrant it has deposed."

"Every successful revolution puts on in time the robes of the tyrant it has deposed."

Barbara Tuchman, American Historian

Time, Successful, Revolution

13

"I love mysteries, and I read them every night before I go to bed."

"I love mysteries, and I read them every night before I go to bed."

David Herbert Donald, American Historian

Love, Bed, Night

13

"When you take something extremely broad, then it is not a work of expansion or work of compression. It's hard because you have to decide what to throw out."

"When you take something extremely broad, then it is not a work of expansion or work of compression. It's hard because you have to decide what to throw out."

Iris Chang, Chinese Historian

13

"The ultimate end of human acts is eudaimonia, happiness in the sense of living well, which all men desire; all acts are but different means chosen to arrive at it."

"The ultimate end of human acts is eudaimonia, happiness in the sense of living well, which all men desire; all acts are but different means chosen to arrive at it."

Hannah Arendt, German Historian

Happiness, Men, Desire, End

13

"A friend in power is a friend lost."

"A friend in power is a friend lost."

Henry B. Adams, American Historian

Friendship, Power, Friend

12

"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."

"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."

Samuel E. Morison, American Historian

Time, Decisions, Force, Mind

12

"The fame that goes with wealth and beauty is fleeting and fragile; intellectual superiority is a possession glorious and eternal."

"The fame that goes with wealth and beauty is fleeting and fragile; intellectual superiority is a possession glorious and eternal."

Sallust, Roman Historian

Beauty, Superiority, Wealth, Fame

12

"Discount air fares, a car in every parking space and the interstate highway system have made every place accessible - and every place alike."

"Discount air fares, a car in every parking space and the interstate highway system have made every place accessible - and every place alike."

Ronald Steel, American Historian

12

"A best-seller was a book which somehow sold well because it was selling well."

"A best-seller was a book which somehow sold well because it was selling well."

Daniel J. Boorstin, American Historian

12

"From the perspective of mere representation, the external world always remains only a phenomenon."

"From the perspective of mere representation, the external world always remains only a phenomenon."

Wilhelm Dilthey, German Historian

Philosophy, Perspective, World

12

"Nothing except the mint can make money without advertising."

"Nothing except the mint can make money without advertising."

Thomas B. Macaulay, English Historian

Money, Advertising, Nothing

12

"It's a necessary quality of a diplomat or a politician that he will compromise. Uncompromising politicians or diplomats get you into the most terrible trouble."

"It's a necessary quality of a diplomat or a politician that he will compromise. Uncompromising politicians or diplomats get you into the most terrible trouble."

John Keegan, English Historian

Quality, Compromise, Politicians, Trouble

12

"Nothing is so galling to a people not broken in from the birth as a paternal, or, in other words, a meddling government, a government which tells them what to read, and say, and eat, and drink and wear."

"Nothing is so galling to a people not broken in from the birth as a paternal, or, in other words, a meddling government, a government which tells them what to read, and say, and eat, and drink and wear."

Thomas B. Macaulay, English Historian

Government, People, Nothing, Words

12

"The residence of the Plymouth settlers in the Netherlands, and the later conquest of the Dutch colonies, had brought the Americans into contact with the singularly wise and free institutions of the Dutch."

"The residence of the Plymouth settlers in the Netherlands, and the later conquest of the Dutch colonies, had brought the Americans into contact with the singularly wise and free institutions of the Dutch."

Albert Bushnell Hart, American Historian

History, Americans, Conquest

12

"I'm no politician. I'm an historian who has learned through a lifetime of studying that nothing in the world beats universal education."

"I'm no politician. I'm an historian who has learned through a lifetime of studying that nothing in the world beats universal education."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

Education, Nothing, World

12

"The chief incalculable in war is the human will."

"The chief incalculable in war is the human will."

B. H. Liddell Hart, British Historian

12

"Washington, not Jefferson, freed his slaves upon his death."

"Washington, not Jefferson, freed his slaves upon his death."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

Death, Washington

12

"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."

"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."

Samuel E. Morison, American Historian

Life, Courage, Honesty, Purpose

12

"When the state is most corrupt, then the laws are most multiplied."

"When the state is most corrupt, then the laws are most multiplied."

Tacitus, Roman Historian

Law, Laws, State

12

"It is very difficult to hang onto the relics of history."

"It is very difficult to hang onto the relics of history."

Iris Chang, Chinese Historian

12

"In real life, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case it is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market. Hares have no time to read. They are too busy winning the game."

"In real life, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case it is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market. Hares have no time to read. They are too busy winning the game."

Anita Brookner, English Historian

Time, Life, Winning, Contention

12

"Existentialism is about being a saint without God; being your own hero, without all the sanction and support of religion or society."

"Existentialism is about being a saint without God; being your own hero, without all the sanction and support of religion or society."

Anita Brookner, English Historian

Religion, Society, God, Being

12

"For long, history was mainly political history, and historical narrative was confined to an account of the most important crises in political life, or to an account of wars and great generals."

"For long, history was mainly political history, and historical narrative was confined to an account of the most important crises in political life, or to an account of wars and great generals."

Michael I. Rostovtzeff, Russian Historian

12

"The sciences which take socio-historical reality as their subject matter are seeking, more intensively than ever before, their systematic relations to one another and to their foundation."

"The sciences which take socio-historical reality as their subject matter are seeking, more intensively than ever before, their systematic relations to one another and to their foundation."

Wilhelm Dilthey, German Historian

12

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