Quotes by Historian | Beyond Motive 2/27

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Quotes by Historian

"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

13

"A person possessed with an idea cannot be reasoned with."

"A person possessed with an idea cannot be reasoned with."

James Anthony Froude, English Historian

Creativity, Idea

13

"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

13

"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

13

"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

12

"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

12

"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

12

"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

12

"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

12

"Nations without a past are contradictions in terms. What makes a nation is the past, what justifies one nation against others is the past, and historians are the people who produce it."

"Nations without a past are contradictions in terms. What makes a nation is the past, what justifies one nation against others is the past, and historians are the people who produce it."

Eric Hobsbawm, British Historian

People, Historians, Nation, Nations

12

"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

12

"If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it."

"If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it."

Herodotus, Greek Historian

Being, Fun, Man, Relaxation

12

"The philosophic spirit of inquiry may be traced to brute curiosity, and that to the habit of examining all things in search of food."

"The philosophic spirit of inquiry may be traced to brute curiosity, and that to the habit of examining all things in search of food."

William Winwood Reade, Scottish Historian

Food, Habit, Curiosity, May

11

"That is what leadership is all about: staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment."

"That is what leadership is all about: staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment."

Doris Kearns Goodwin, American Historian

Leadership, People, Opinion, Popular

11

"America is a large friendly dog in a small room. Every time it wags its tail it knocks over a chair."

"America is a large friendly dog in a small room. Every time it wags its tail it knocks over a chair."

Arnold J. Toynbee, British Historian

11

"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

11

"When I was a child of six or seven my father would show me the chapter in the prophet Isaiah where the name Immanuel is found; more than once he spoke to me of the faith he put in me."

"When I was a child of six or seven my father would show me the chapter in the prophet Isaiah where the name Immanuel is found; more than once he spoke to me of the faith he put in me."

Immanuel Velikovsky, Belarusian Historian

Faith, Father, Name

11

"War itself is the enemy of the human race."

"War itself is the enemy of the human race."

Howard Zinn, American Historian

War, Enemy, Race

11

"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

11

"My first name - I have no middle name - was chosen by my father, as he told me, on that solitary walk in the forested hills. He selected it from a verse of the seventh chapter of Isaiah; there was no Immanuel among our ancestors known to him."

"My first name - I have no middle name - was chosen by my father, as he told me, on that solitary walk in the forested hills. He selected it from a verse of the seventh chapter of Isaiah; there was no Immanuel among our ancestors known to him."

Immanuel Velikovsky, Belarusian Historian

Family, Father, First, Name

11

"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

11

"Man cannot be free if he does not know that he is subject to necessity, because his freedom is always won in his never wholly successful attempts to liberate himself from necessity."

"Man cannot be free if he does not know that he is subject to necessity, because his freedom is always won in his never wholly successful attempts to liberate himself from necessity."

Hannah Arendt, German Historian

Success, Successful, Freedom, Man, Necessity

11

"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

11

"We seek the truth and will endure the consequences."

"We seek the truth and will endure the consequences."

Charles Seymour, American Historian

Truth, Consequences, Will

10

"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

10

"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

10

"There is always more spirit in attack than in defence."

"There is always more spirit in attack than in defence."

Titus Livius, Roman Historian

10

"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

10

"Where all are guilty, no one is; confessions of collective guilt are the best possible safeguard against the discovery of culprits, and the very magnitude of the crime the best excuse for doing nothing."

"Where all are guilty, no one is; confessions of collective guilt are the best possible safeguard against the discovery of culprits, and the very magnitude of the crime the best excuse for doing nothing."

Hannah Arendt, German Historian

Crime, Discovery, Guilt, Nothing

10

"It seems that American patriotism measures itself against an outcast group. The right Americans are the right Americans because they're not like the wrong Americans, who are not really Americans."

"It seems that American patriotism measures itself against an outcast group. The right Americans are the right Americans because they're not like the wrong Americans, who are not really Americans."

Eric Hobsbawm, British Historian

Patriotism, American, Americans, Right

10

"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

10

"My favorite book is the last one printed, which is always better than those that were published earlier."

"My favorite book is the last one printed, which is always better than those that were published earlier."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

10

"My father felt that his world of ideas was too liberal for traditional rabbinical teachings, and he looked for a chance to find a way in life."

"My father felt that his world of ideas was too liberal for traditional rabbinical teachings, and he looked for a chance to find a way in life."

Immanuel Velikovsky, Belarusian Historian

Life, Father, Ideas, Chance

10

"Wherever the relevance of speech is at stake, matters become political by definition, for speech is what makes man a political being."

"Wherever the relevance of speech is at stake, matters become political by definition, for speech is what makes man a political being."

Hannah Arendt, German Historian

Being, Man, Speech

9

"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

9

"The materials of the novelist must be real; they must be gathered from the field of humanity by his actual observation."

"The materials of the novelist must be real; they must be gathered from the field of humanity by his actual observation."

Goldwin Smith, Canadian Historian

Humanity, Observation

9

"In an individualistic culture, the narcissist is God's gift to the world. In a collectivist society, the narcissist is God's gift to the collective."

"In an individualistic culture, the narcissist is God's gift to the world. In a collectivist society, the narcissist is God's gift to the collective."

Christopher Lasch, American Historian

God, Society, Culture, World

9

"To learn to get along without, to realize that what the world is going to demand of us may be a good deal more important than what we are entitled to demand of it - this is a hard lesson."

"To learn to get along without, to realize that what the world is going to demand of us may be a good deal more important than what we are entitled to demand of it - this is a hard lesson."

Bruce Catton, American Historian

Learning, May, World

9

"The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities."

"The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities."

John Acton, English Historian

Nation, Country, Security

9

"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

9

"The return we reap from generous actions is not always evident."

"The return we reap from generous actions is not always evident."

Francesco Guicciardini, Italian Historian

Action, Actions

9

"History is Philosophy teaching by examples."

"History is Philosophy teaching by examples."

Thucydides, Greek Historian

History, Philosophy, Teaching

9

"The Commonwealth has had consistently bad press. It was originally seen as a kind of hangover empire. People have long predicted its demise."

"The Commonwealth has had consistently bad press. It was originally seen as a kind of hangover empire. People have long predicted its demise."

Ben Pimlott, British Historian

9

"Freedom of conscience entails more dangers than authority and despotism."

"Freedom of conscience entails more dangers than authority and despotism."

Michel Foucault, French Historian

Authority, Conscience, Freedom

9

"Besides paid white laborers, there was everywhere a class of white servants bound without wages for a term of years, and a more miserable class of Negro slaves."

"Besides paid white laborers, there was everywhere a class of white servants bound without wages for a term of years, and a more miserable class of Negro slaves."

Albert Bushnell Hart, American Historian

History, Class, Wages, Years

9

"The rise of computer crime and armed robbery has not eliminated the lure of caged cash."

"The rise of computer crime and armed robbery has not eliminated the lure of caged cash."

James Chiles, American Historian

Computer, Crime

9

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."

Howard Zinn, American Historian

Patriotism, Dissent

9

"Our enemies are Medes and Persians, men who for centuries have lived soft and luxurious lives; we of Macedon for generations past have been trained in the hard school of danger and war. Above all, we are free men, and they are slaves."

"Our enemies are Medes and Persians, men who for centuries have lived soft and luxurious lives; we of Macedon for generations past have been trained in the hard school of danger and war. Above all, we are free men, and they are slaves."

Arrian, Greek Historian

Man, Men, War, Danger, Enemies

8

"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

8

"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

8

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