Quotes by Historian | Beyond Motive 17/35

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Quotes by Historian

"Candor and generosity, unless tempered by due moderation, leads to ruin."

"Candor and generosity, unless tempered by due moderation, leads to ruin."

Tacitus, Roman Historian

Moderation, Candor, Generosity, Ruin

44

"Reading your own material aloud forces you to listen."

"Reading your own material aloud forces you to listen."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

44

"In real life, of course, it is the hare that wins. Every time. Look around you."

"In real life, of course, it is the hare that wins. Every time. Look around you."

Anita Brookner, English Historian

44

"The institutions, conventions, customs and laws that make up the complex structure of a society are the work of a hundred centuries and a billion minds; and one mind must not expect to comprehend them in one lifetime, much less in twenty years."

"The institutions, conventions, customs and laws that make up the complex structure of a society are the work of a hundred centuries and a billion minds; and one mind must not expect to comprehend them in one lifetime, much less in twenty years."

Will Durant, American Historian

Society, Structure, Complexity, Observation

44

"From William of Orange to William Pitt the younger there was but one man without whom English history must have taken a different turn, and that was William Pitt the elder."

"From William of Orange to William Pitt the younger there was but one man without whom English history must have taken a different turn, and that was William Pitt the elder."

Albert Bushnell Hart, American Historian

History, English, Man

44

"As the old saw says well: every end does not appear together with its beginning."

"As the old saw says well: every end does not appear together with its beginning."

Herodotus, Greek Historian

Beginning, End, Old

44

"Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader."

"Reason and judgment are the qualities of a leader."

Tacitus, Roman Historian

Leadership, Leader, Judgment, Reason

44

"It is always good men who do the most harm in the world."

"It is always good men who do the most harm in the world."

Henry B. Adams, American Historian

Man, Men, Harm, World

44

"To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace."

"To plunder, to slaughter, to steal, these things they misname empire; and where they make a wilderness, they call it peace."

Tacitus, Roman Historian

Peace, Wilderness

44

"Nothing is really real unless it happens on television."

"Nothing is really real unless it happens on television."

Daniel J. Boorstin, American Historian

Nothing, Television

44

"The Romans, we are told, were by nature a peculiarly warlike race."

"The Romans, we are told, were by nature a peculiarly warlike race."

Goldwin Smith, Canadian Historian

44

"The hardest and greatest thing a human being can do is submit to his Creator."

"The hardest and greatest thing a human being can do is submit to his Creator."

Habeeb Akande, British Historian

Spiritual, Submission, Truth, Faith, Power

44

"Knowledge may give weight, but accomplishments give lustre, and many more people see than weigh."

"Knowledge may give weight, but accomplishments give lustre, and many more people see than weigh."

Herodotus, Greek Historian

People, Knowledge, Accomplishments, May

44

"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

44

"Our tradition of political thought had its definite beginning in the teachings of Plato and Aristotle. I believe it came to a no less definite end in the theories of Karl Marx."

"Our tradition of political thought had its definite beginning in the teachings of Plato and Aristotle. I believe it came to a no less definite end in the theories of Karl Marx."

Hannah Arendt, German Historian

Thought, Beginning, End, Theories

44

"Hope drowned in shadowsemerges fiercely splendid""boldly angelic."

"Hope drowned in shadowsemerges fiercely splendid""boldly angelic."

Aberjhani, American Historian

Hope, Resilience, Light, Strength

44

"Adherents of the new religious right reject the separation of politics and religion, but they bring no spiritual insights to politics."

"Adherents of the new religious right reject the separation of politics and religion, but they bring no spiritual insights to politics."

Christopher Lasch, American Historian

Politics, Religion, Religious, Right

44

"He was always the bridge, between men as well as between ideas."

"He was always the bridge, between men as well as between ideas."

Barbara Tuchman, American Historian

Mediation, Truth, Wisdom, Observation

44

"The whole purpose of the construction of The Bridge of Silver Wings was to provide a path leading to The River of Winged Dreams, or to serve as a resting place until the river's deeper and truer nature revealed itself."

"The whole purpose of the construction of The Bridge of Silver Wings was to provide a path leading to The River of Winged Dreams, or to serve as a resting place until the river's deeper and truer nature revealed itself."

Aberjhani, American Historian

Imagination, Purpose, Journey, Path

44

"When liberals finally grasped the strength of popular feeling about the family, they cried to appropriate the rhetoric and symbolism of family values for their own purposes."

"When liberals finally grasped the strength of popular feeling about the family, they cried to appropriate the rhetoric and symbolism of family values for their own purposes."

Christopher Lasch, American Historian

Family, Strength, Values, Feeling

44

"Many of the Iroquois and Huron houses were of similar construction, the partitions being at the sides only, leaving a wide passage down the middle of the house."

"Many of the Iroquois and Huron houses were of similar construction, the partitions being at the sides only, leaving a wide passage down the middle of the house."

Francis Parkman, American Historian

44

"But I like not these great success of yours; for I know how jealous are the gods."

"But I like not these great success of yours; for I know how jealous are the gods."

Herodotus, Greek Historian

44

"Whether we consider hip-hop as an evolved manifestation of the Harlem Renaissance or something completely new under the sun, it clearly has moved beyond the stage of just entertaining lives to that of informing and empowering lives."

"Whether we consider hip-hop as an evolved manifestation of the Harlem Renaissance or something completely new under the sun, it clearly has moved beyond the stage of just entertaining lives to that of informing and empowering lives."

Aberjhani, American Historian

Culture, Music, Empowerment, Information

44

"The progress of evolution from President Washington to President Grant was alone evidence to upset Darwin."

"The progress of evolution from President Washington to President Grant was alone evidence to upset Darwin."

Henry B. Adams, American Historian

Progress, Evolution, President, Washington

43

"Christianity is part of the Common Law of England."

"Christianity is part of the Common Law of England."

Matthew Hale, British Historian

Christian, Christianity, England, Law

43

"In appearance the labor system of all the colonies was the same."

"In appearance the labor system of all the colonies was the same."

Albert Bushnell Hart, American Historian

Appearance, Labor

43

"It is in the very nature of things human that every act that has once made its appearance and has been recorded in the history of mankind stays with mankind as a potentiality long after its actuality has become a thing of the past."

"It is in the very nature of things human that every act that has once made its appearance and has been recorded in the history of mankind stays with mankind as a potentiality long after its actuality has become a thing of the past."

Hannah Arendt, German Historian

History, Nature, Act, Appearance

43

"Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself."

"Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself."

James Anthony Froude, English Historian

Death, Animals, Man

43

"I don't look to find an educated person in the ranks of university graduates, necessarily. Some of the most educated people I know have never been near a university."

"I don't look to find an educated person in the ranks of university graduates, necessarily. Some of the most educated people I know have never been near a university."

John Keegan, English Historian

People, University

43

"We enter the world alone, we leave the world alone."

"We enter the world alone, we leave the world alone."

James Anthony Froude, English Historian

43

"It's impossible for someone who is human to have all good things together, just as there is no single country able to provide all good things for itself."

"It's impossible for someone who is human to have all good things together, just as there is no single country able to provide all good things for itself."

Herodotus, Greek Historian

Nation, Country

43

"We read advertisements... to discover and enlarge our desires. We are always ready - even eager - to discover, from the announcement of a new product, what we have all along wanted without really knowing it."

"We read advertisements... to discover and enlarge our desires. We are always ready - even eager - to discover, from the announcement of a new product, what we have all along wanted without really knowing it."

Daniel J. Boorstin, American Historian

43

"The press is the hired agent of a monied system, and set up for no other purpose than to tell lies where their interests are involved. One can trust nobody and nothing."

"The press is the hired agent of a monied system, and set up for no other purpose than to tell lies where their interests are involved. One can trust nobody and nothing."

Henry B. Adams, American Historian

Trust, Purpose, Lies, Nothing

43

"You don't hate history, you hate the way it was taught to you in high school."

"You don't hate history, you hate the way it was taught to you in high school."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

History, Hate, School

43

"Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; While others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before."

"Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; While others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before."

Herodotus, Greek Historian

Man, Men, Goal, Victory

43

"If Liberia has failed, then, it is no evidence of the failure of the Negro in government. It is merely evidence of the failure of slavery."

"If Liberia has failed, then, it is no evidence of the failure of the Negro in government. It is merely evidence of the failure of slavery."

Carter G. Woodson, American Historian

Government, Failure, Slavery

43

"To go back and read Swift and Defoe and Samuel Johnson and Smollett and Pope - all those people we had to read in college English courses - to read them now is to have one of the infinite pleasures in life."

"To go back and read Swift and Defoe and Samuel Johnson and Smollett and Pope - all those people we had to read in college English courses - to read them now is to have one of the infinite pleasures in life."

David McCullough, American Historian

Life, People, College, English

43

"The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise."

"The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise."

Tacitus, Roman Historian

43

"As to the Indians, the guiding principle was, promise them anything just so long as they get out of the way."

"As to the Indians, the guiding principle was, promise them anything just so long as they get out of the way."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

Indians, Promise

43

"The defiance of established authority, religious and secular, social and political, as a world-wide phenomenon may well one day be accounted the outstanding event of the last decade."

"The defiance of established authority, religious and secular, social and political, as a world-wide phenomenon may well one day be accounted the outstanding event of the last decade."

Hannah Arendt, German Historian

Authority, Day, Defiance, May

43

"The past is a source of knowledge, and the future is a source of hope. Love of the past implies faith in the future."

"The past is a source of knowledge, and the future is a source of hope. Love of the past implies faith in the future."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

Faith, Love, Knowledge, Hope

43

"If you are not working towards something, your life will end with nothing."

"If you are not working towards something, your life will end with nothing."

Habeeb Akande, British Historian

Motivation, Action, Truth, Life, Power

43

"Favor and honor sometimes fall more fitly on those who do not desire them."

"Favor and honor sometimes fall more fitly on those who do not desire them."

Titus Livius, Roman Historian

43

"History is everything that has ever happened."

"History is everything that has ever happened."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

43

"A man's action is only a picture book of his creed."

"A man's action is only a picture book of his creed."

Arthur Helps, British Historian

43

"The result showed that fortune helps the brave."

"The result showed that fortune helps the brave."

Titus Livius, Roman Historian

Fortune, Result

43

"I think, with the gay liberation movement has had need for heroes and heroines, and it would be rather nice to have Abraham Lincoln as your poster boy, wouldn't it?"

"I think, with the gay liberation movement has had need for heroes and heroines, and it would be rather nice to have Abraham Lincoln as your poster boy, wouldn't it?"

David Herbert Donald, American Historian

Politics, Gay, Heroes

43

"The same historical development that turned the citizen into a client transformed the worker from a producer into a consumer."

"The same historical development that turned the citizen into a client transformed the worker from a producer into a consumer."

Christopher Lasch, American Historian

43

"I see the great continuities in New Zealand history as being decency and common sense and up until now when we've confronted these things we've been able to talk them through, and I'm sure we will with this issue as well."

"I see the great continuities in New Zealand history as being decency and common sense and up until now when we've confronted these things we've been able to talk them through, and I'm sure we will with this issue as well."

Michael King, New Zealander Historian

History, Being, Commonsense, Decency

43

"The gentle pulsing and flickering of stars and nebulae made a kind of music, a sweet easy mesh of whispered tones and sighing harmonies that held him in its force like the earth [holding] the moon."

"The gentle pulsing and flickering of stars and nebulae made a kind of music, a sweet easy mesh of whispered tones and sighing harmonies that held him in its force like the earth [holding] the moon."

Aberjhani, American Historian

Music, Universe, Observation, Beauty

43

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