Quotes by Historian | Beyond Motive 2/30

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Quotes by Historian

"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people."

"There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people."

Howard Zinn, American Historian

People, Killing, Shame

38

"Somebody who was born in this country who visited China would later face difficulty getting back in to the USA. We have to keep in mind that the struggles of the Chinese against these exclusion laws really laid down the foundations of civil rights law."

"Somebody who was born in this country who visited China would later face difficulty getting back in to the USA. We have to keep in mind that the struggles of the Chinese against these exclusion laws really laid down the foundations of civil rights law."

Iris Chang, Chinese Historian

Diversity, Civilrights, Country, Difficulty, Law

37

"It's definitely going to be harder than it sounds to acquire millions of users in the U.S. It's going to be a lot of work, and you can't make light of that."

"It's definitely going to be harder than it sounds to acquire millions of users in the U.S. It's going to be a lot of work, and you can't make light of that."

Michael King, New Zealander Historian

Work, Light, Newzealander

36

"Your Constitution is all sail and no anchor."

"Your Constitution is all sail and no anchor."

Thomas B. Macaulay, English Historian

35

"Nothing is inevitable until it happens."

"Nothing is inevitable until it happens."

A. J. P. Taylor, British Historian

34

"It is the logic of consumerism that undermines the values of loyalty and permanence and promotes a different set of values that is destructive of family life."

"It is the logic of consumerism that undermines the values of loyalty and permanence and promotes a different set of values that is destructive of family life."

Christopher Lasch, American Historian

Family, Life, Values, Logic

34

"The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out."

"The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out."

Thomas B. Macaulay, English Historian

Character, Man, Measure

34

"In the long run, there is not much discrimination against superior talent."

"In the long run, there is not much discrimination against superior talent."

Carter G. Woodson, American Historian

Talent, Discrimination

34

"Distant replay morphs into instant replay, and future replay cannot be far off."

"Distant replay morphs into instant replay, and future replay cannot be far off."

John Thorn, American Historian

34

"The worst pain a man can suffer: to have insight into much and power over nothing."

"The worst pain a man can suffer: to have insight into much and power over nothing."

Herodotus, Greek Historian

Power, Man, Nothing, Pain

33

"Justice will not come to Athens until those who are not injured are as indignant as those who are injured."

"Justice will not come to Athens until those who are not injured are as indignant as those who are injured."

Thucydides, Greek Historian

Justice, Athens, Will

32

"History is, in its essentials, the science of change. It knows and it teaches that it is impossible to find two events that are ever exactly alike, because the conditions from which they spring are never identical."

"History is, in its essentials, the science of change. It knows and it teaches that it is impossible to find two events that are ever exactly alike, because the conditions from which they spring are never identical."

Marc Bloch, French Historian

History, Science, Change, Events

32

"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."

"The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."

Thucydides, Greek Historian

Vision, Danger, Glory

31

"Justice must always question itself, just as society can exist only by means of the work it does on itself and on its institutions."

"Justice must always question itself, just as society can exist only by means of the work it does on itself and on its institutions."

Michel Foucault, French Historian

Society, Work, Justice, Question

31

"Science rests on reason and experiment, and can meet an opponent with calmness; but a belief is always sensitive."

"Science rests on reason and experiment, and can meet an opponent with calmness; but a belief is always sensitive."

James Anthony Froude, English Historian

Science, Belief, Reason

30

"The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks."

"The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks."

Lord Acton, British Historian

People, Banks, Will

30

"The left has come to regard common sense - the traditional wisdom and folkways of the community - as an obstacle to progress and enlightenment."

"The left has come to regard common sense - the traditional wisdom and folkways of the community - as an obstacle to progress and enlightenment."

Christopher Lasch, American Historian

Wisdom, Progress, Commonsense, Community

30

"Civilization is a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbor."

"Civilization is a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbor."

Arnold J. Toynbee, British Historian

30

"A good lawyer is a bad Christian."

"A good lawyer is a bad Christian."

John Lothrop Motley, American Historian

30

"Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill."

"Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill."

Barbara Tuchman, American Historian

History, Science, Thought, Civilization

29

"Revolutionaries do not make revolutions. The revolutionaries are those who know when power is lying in the street and then they can pick it up."

"Revolutionaries do not make revolutions. The revolutionaries are those who know when power is lying in the street and then they can pick it up."

Hannah Arendt, German Historian

28

"Technology is so much fun but we can drown in our technology. The fog of information can drive out knowledge."

"Technology is so much fun but we can drown in our technology. The fog of information can drive out knowledge."

Daniel J. Boorstin, American Historian

Technology, Knowledge, Fun, Information

28

"Chaos often breeds life when order breeds habit."

"Chaos often breeds life when order breeds habit."

Henry Adams, American Historian

Life, Habit, Chaos, Order

28

"The history of Christianity, therefore, must be of concern to all who are interested in the record of man and particularly to all who seek to understand the contemporary human scene."

"The history of Christianity, therefore, must be of concern to all who are interested in the record of man and particularly to all who seek to understand the contemporary human scene."

Kenneth Scott Latourette, American Historian

History, Christianity, Concern, Man

28

"You have reckoned that history ought to judge the past and to instruct the contemporary world as to the future. The present attempt does not yield to that high office. It will merely tell how it really was."

"You have reckoned that history ought to judge the past and to instruct the contemporary world as to the future. The present attempt does not yield to that high office. It will merely tell how it really was."

Leopold Von Ranke, German Historian

History, Future, Office, Past

28

"Psychoanalysts are not occupied with the minds of their patients; they do not believe in the mind but in a cerebral intestine."

"Psychoanalysts are not occupied with the minds of their patients; they do not believe in the mind but in a cerebral intestine."

Bernard Berenson, American Historian

28

"Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit."

"Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit."

Henry B. Adams, American Historian

Life, Habit, Chaos, Order

28

"The Stuart sovereigns of England steadily attempted to strengthen their power, and the resistance to that effort caused an immense growth of Parliamentary influence."

"The Stuart sovereigns of England steadily attempted to strengthen their power, and the resistance to that effort caused an immense growth of Parliamentary influence."

Albert Bushnell Hart, American Historian

Power, Growth, Effort, England

28

"Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history."

"Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history."

Carter G. Woodson, American Historian

Inspirational, History, Inspiration, Biography, Teaching

27

"As the archaeology of our thought easily shows, man is an invention of recent date. And one perhaps nearing its end."

"As the archaeology of our thought easily shows, man is an invention of recent date. And one perhaps nearing its end."

Michel Foucault, French Historian

Thought, End, Invention, Man

27

"The English Bible - a book which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power."

"The English Bible - a book which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power."

Thomas B. Macaulay, English Historian

Beauty, Power, Bible

27

"Immigrants do more than help us win our wars, or set up cleaning shops or ethnic restaurants."

"Immigrants do more than help us win our wars, or set up cleaning shops or ethnic restaurants."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

Help, Restaurants, Shops

27

"When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions."

"When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions."

Carter G. Woodson, American Historian

Control, Actions, Man, Thinking

27

"A knowledge of the forces that rule society, of the causes that have produced its upheavals, and of society's resources for promoting healthy progress has become of vital concern to our civilization."

"A knowledge of the forces that rule society, of the causes that have produced its upheavals, and of society's resources for promoting healthy progress has become of vital concern to our civilization."

Wilhelm Dilthey, German Historian

Society, Civilization, Knowledge, Progress

27

"Every age yearns for a more beautiful world. The deeper the desperation and the depression about the confusing present, the more intense that yearning."

"Every age yearns for a more beautiful world. The deeper the desperation and the depression about the confusing present, the more intense that yearning."

Johan Huizinga, Dutch Historian

Age, Depression, Desperation, Present

27

"Christianity is usually called a religion. As a religion it has had a wider geographic spread and is more deeply rooted among more peoples than any other religion in the history of mankind."

"Christianity is usually called a religion. As a religion it has had a wider geographic spread and is more deeply rooted among more peoples than any other religion in the history of mankind."

Kenneth Scott Latourette, American Historian

History, Religion, Christianity, Mankind

27

"An acre in Middlesex is better than a principality in Utopia."

"An acre in Middlesex is better than a principality in Utopia."

Thomas B. Macaulay, English Historian

26

"Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral laws are written on the table of eternity."

"Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral laws are written on the table of eternity."

Lord Acton, British Historian

Change, Eternity, Laws, Manners

26

"The secret of a person's nature lies in their religion and what they really believes about the world and their place in it."

"The secret of a person's nature lies in their religion and what they really believes about the world and their place in it."

James Anthony Froude, English Historian

Nature, Religion, Lies, World

26

"History is a vision of God's creation on the move."

"History is a vision of God's creation on the move."

Arnold J. Toynbee, British Historian

History, God, Vision, Creation

26

"To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization."

"To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization."

Arnold J. Toynbee, British Historian

Civilization, Leisure

26

"Inquiry is fatal to certainty."

"Inquiry is fatal to certainty."

Will Durant, American Historian

26

"When men are full of envy they disparage everything, whether it be good or bad."

"When men are full of envy they disparage everything, whether it be good or bad."

Tacitus, Roman Historian

26

"There's an awful temptation to just keep on researching. There comes a point where you just have to stop, and start writing."

"There's an awful temptation to just keep on researching. There comes a point where you just have to stop, and start writing."

David McCullough, American Historian

Temptation, Writing

26

"History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind."

"History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind."

Edward Gibbon, English Historian

History, Mankind

25

"Everywhere among the English-speaking race criminal justice was rude, and punishments were barbarous; but the tendency was to do away with special privileges and legal exemptions."

"Everywhere among the English-speaking race criminal justice was rude, and punishments were barbarous; but the tendency was to do away with special privileges and legal exemptions."

Albert Bushnell Hart, American Historian

Legal, English, Justice, Race

25

"We have almost succeeded in leveling all human activities to the common denominator of securing the necessities of life and providing for their abundance."

"We have almost succeeded in leveling all human activities to the common denominator of securing the necessities of life and providing for their abundance."

Hannah Arendt, German Historian

Life, Abundance

25

"Prison continues, on those who are entrusted to it, a work begun elsewhere, which the whole of society pursues on each individual through innumerable mechanisms of discipline."

"Prison continues, on those who are entrusted to it, a work begun elsewhere, which the whole of society pursues on each individual through innumerable mechanisms of discipline."

Michel Foucault, French Historian

Society, Work, Discipline, Prison

25

"Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art."

"Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art."

Will Durant, American Historian

Art, Science, Philosophy

25

"He that will be angry for anything will be angry for nothing."

"He that will be angry for anything will be angry for nothing."

Sallust, Roman Historian

25

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