Quotes by Historian | Beyond Motive 23/35

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Quotes by Historian

"If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated."

"If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated."

Carter G. Woodson, American Historian

History, Thought, Being, Danger

29

"A growing awareness of the depth of popular attachment to the family has led some liberals to concede that family is not just a buzzword for reaction."

"A growing awareness of the depth of popular attachment to the family has led some liberals to concede that family is not just a buzzword for reaction."

Christopher Lasch, American Historian

Family, Awareness, Liberals, Popular

29

"Writing novels preserves you in a state of innocence - a lot passes you by - simply because your attention is otherwise diverted."

"Writing novels preserves you in a state of innocence - a lot passes you by - simply because your attention is otherwise diverted."

Anita Brookner, English Historian

Attention, Innocence, State, Writing

29

"This fire that we call Loving is too strong for human minds. But just right for human souls."

"This fire that we call Loving is too strong for human minds. But just right for human souls."

Aberjhani, American Historian

Love, Intensity, Passion, Soul

29

"The English race is the best at weeping and the worst at laughing."

"The English race is the best at weeping and the worst at laughing."

Thomas Hearne, English Historian

Nationality, Race, Weeping

29

"Systematic philosophical and practical anti-intellectualism such as we are witnessing appears to be something truly novel in the history of human culture."

"Systematic philosophical and practical anti-intellectualism such as we are witnessing appears to be something truly novel in the history of human culture."

Johan Huizinga, Dutch Historian

History, Culture

29

"So I should say that civilizations begin with religion and stoicism: they end with scepticism and unbelief and the undisciplined pursuit of individual pleasure. A civilization is born stoic and dies epicurean."

"So I should say that civilizations begin with religion and stoicism: they end with scepticism and unbelief and the undisciplined pursuit of individual pleasure. A civilization is born stoic and dies epicurean."

Will Durant, American Historian

Society, Civilization, Religion, Stoicism, Skepticism

29

"The accords were fig leaves of democratic procedure to hide the nakedness of Stalinist dictatorship."

"The accords were fig leaves of democratic procedure to hide the nakedness of Stalinist dictatorship."

George F. Kennan, American Historian

Politics, Dictatorship

29

"The Universe said, 'Let me show your soul something beautiful."

"The Universe said, 'Let me show your soul something beautiful."

Aberjhani, American Historian

Inspirational, Universe, Hope, Beauty, Soul

29

"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

29

"We can't live without taxes, but we sure would like to have good ones."

"We can't live without taxes, but we sure would like to have good ones."

Charles Adams, American Historian

29

"Oh what a wonderful soul so bright inside you. Got power to heal the sun's broken heart, power to restore the moon's vision too."

"Oh what a wonderful soul so bright inside you. Got power to heal the sun's broken heart, power to restore the moon's vision too."

Aberjhani, American Historian

Inspirational, Power, Healing, Truth

29

"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance."

"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance."

Will Durant, American Historian

Education, Discovery, Ignorance

29

"I've learned any fool can write a bad ad, but it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one."

"I've learned any fool can write a bad ad, but it takes a real genius to keep his hands off a good one."

Daniel J. Boorstin, American Historian

29

"I have become a prisoner of the peace movement. But you can't say that the termination is coming and then say that you are going back to your own garden to dig."

"I have become a prisoner of the peace movement. But you can't say that the termination is coming and then say that you are going back to your own garden to dig."

E. P. Thompson, British Historian

29

"After working as a journalist I went to a writing program at Johns Hopkins. It was interesting because it was neither journalistic nor historical, but it emphasized writing style, and afterwards I was asked to write my first book."

"After working as a journalist I went to a writing program at Johns Hopkins. It was interesting because it was neither journalistic nor historical, but it emphasized writing style, and afterwards I was asked to write my first book."

Iris Chang, Chinese Historian

Writing, First, Style

29

"The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing.""

"The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes "sight-seeing.""

Daniel J. Boorstin, American Historian

Experience, People, Adventure

29

"The one who cannot see your vision will be blinded by your mission."

"The one who cannot see your vision will be blinded by your mission."

Habeeb Akande, British Historian

Vision, Truth, Observation, Power

29

"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

29

"There is also an epidemic of infertility in this country. There are more women who have put off child-bearing in favor of their professional lives. For them, the only way they are going to have a family is to adopt from China."

"There is also an epidemic of infertility in this country. There are more women who have put off child-bearing in favor of their professional lives. For them, the only way they are going to have a family is to adopt from China."

Iris Chang, Chinese Historian

Family, Women, Country

29

"The trouble with the sacred Individual is that he has no significance, except as he can acquire it from others, from the social whole."

"The trouble with the sacred Individual is that he has no significance, except as he can acquire it from others, from the social whole."

Bernard Devoto, American Historian

29

"I would rather be a conscious wrongdoer than a mindless saint."

"I would rather be a conscious wrongdoer than a mindless saint."

Habeeb Akande, British Historian

Morality, Observation, Truth, Wisdom

29

"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

29

"He who knows how to be poor knows everything."

"He who knows how to be poor knows everything."

Jules Michelet, French Historian

29

"Men naturally despise those who court them, but respect those who do not give way to them."

"Men naturally despise those who court them, but respect those who do not give way to them."

Thucydides, Greek Historian

Man, Men, Court, Respect

29

"Planning to play: that's what saving for retirement is today - and it is antithetical to the nature of play, fully within the definition of work, and blissfully ignorant of the reality of death."

"Planning to play: that's what saving for retirement is today - and it is antithetical to the nature of play, fully within the definition of work, and blissfully ignorant of the reality of death."

John Thorn, American Historian

Death, Nature, Work, Planning

29

"I work very hard on the writing, writing and rewriting and trying to weed out the lumber."

"I work very hard on the writing, writing and rewriting and trying to weed out the lumber."

David McCullough, American Historian

Work, Trying, Writing

29

"The man who is denied the opportunity of taking decisions of importance begins to regard as important the decisions he is allowed to take."

"The man who is denied the opportunity of taking decisions of importance begins to regard as important the decisions he is allowed to take."

C. Northcote Parkinson, British Historian

Opportunity, Decisions, Importance, Man

29

"As soon as liberty is complete it dies in anarchy."

"As soon as liberty is complete it dies in anarchy."

Will Durant, American Historian

Politics, Anarchy, Liberty

28

"We secure our friends not by accepting favors but by doing them."

"We secure our friends not by accepting favors but by doing them."

Thucydides, Greek Historian

Friendship, Favors, Friends

28

"We suffer primarily not from our vices or our weaknesses, but from our illusions. We are haunted, not by reality, but by those images we have put in their place."

"We suffer primarily not from our vices or our weaknesses, but from our illusions. We are haunted, not by reality, but by those images we have put in their place."

Daniel J. Boorstin, American Historian

28

"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

28

"Individually, museums are fine institutions, dedicated to the high values of preservation, education and truth; collectively, their growth in numbers points to the imaginative death of this country."

"Individually, museums are fine institutions, dedicated to the high values of preservation, education and truth; collectively, their growth in numbers points to the imaginative death of this country."

Robert Hewison, British Historian

Death, Education, Truth, Growth

28

"Old men should have more care to end life well than to live long."

"Old men should have more care to end life well than to live long."

Anita Brookner, English Historian

Life, Men, Care, End

28

"He who overcomes himself is divine. Most see their ruin before their eyes; but they go on into it."

"He who overcomes himself is divine. Most see their ruin before their eyes; but they go on into it."

Leopold Von Ranke, German Historian

Self-Improvement, Eyes, Ruin

28

"A nation that forgets its past can function no better than an individual with amnesia."

"A nation that forgets its past can function no better than an individual with amnesia."

David C. McCullough, American Historian

28

"Abuse if you slight it, will gradually die away; but if you show yourself irritated, you will be thought to have deserved it."

"Abuse if you slight it, will gradually die away; but if you show yourself irritated, you will be thought to have deserved it."

Tacitus, Roman Historian

Thought, Abuse, Will

28

"Play is a uniquely adaptive act, not subordinate to some other adaptive act, but with a special function of its own in human experience."

"Play is a uniquely adaptive act, not subordinate to some other adaptive act, but with a special function of its own in human experience."

Johan Huizinga, Dutch Historian

Experience, Act, Play

28

"To attempt this would be like seeing without eyes or directing the gaze of knowledge behind one's own eye. Modern science can acknowledge no other than this epistemological stand-point."

"To attempt this would be like seeing without eyes or directing the gaze of knowledge behind one's own eye. Modern science can acknowledge no other than this epistemological stand-point."

Wilhelm Dilthey, German Historian

Science, Knowledge, Eye, Eyes

28

"Ostensibly rigorous and realistic, contemporary conservatism is an ideology of denial. Its symbol is a smile button."

"Ostensibly rigorous and realistic, contemporary conservatism is an ideology of denial. Its symbol is a smile button."

Christopher Lasch, American Historian

Politics, Conservatism, Denial, Ideology, Smile

28

"Few of the many wise apothegms which have been uttered have prevented a single foolish action."

"Few of the many wise apothegms which have been uttered have prevented a single foolish action."

Thomas B. Macaulay, English Historian

28

"If the Negro in the ghetto must eternally be fed by the hand that pushes him into the ghetto, he will never become strong enough to get out of the ghetto."

"If the Negro in the ghetto must eternally be fed by the hand that pushes him into the ghetto, he will never become strong enough to get out of the ghetto."

Carter G. Woodson, American Historian

28

"I never yet feared those men who set a place apart in the middle of their cities where they gather to cheat one another and swear oaths which they break."

"I never yet feared those men who set a place apart in the middle of their cities where they gather to cheat one another and swear oaths which they break."

Herodotus, Greek Historian

Man, Men, Cities

28

"I think you will find scientists that think like you in Germany and Britain, and you will find politicians that think like Weinberger. I think the most bellicose ruling group in the Western world at the moment is the British."

"I think you will find scientists that think like you in Germany and Britain, and you will find politicians that think like Weinberger. I think the most bellicose ruling group in the Western world at the moment is the British."

E. P. Thompson, British Historian

Politics, Germany, Politicians, Scientists, Will

28

"You never know what you will learn till you start writing. Then you discover truths you never knew existed."

"You never know what you will learn till you start writing. Then you discover truths you never knew existed."

Anita Brookner, English Historian

28

"If reason is a universal faculty, the decision of the common mind is the nearest criterion of truth."

"If reason is a universal faculty, the decision of the common mind is the nearest criterion of truth."

George Bancroft, American Historian

Truth, Decision, Mind, Reason

28

"There isn't much discussion of ruling class in America even in Boston, probably one of the most class-conscious cities in the country?"

"There isn't much discussion of ruling class in America even in Boston, probably one of the most class-conscious cities in the country?"

Iris Chang, Chinese Historian

Society, America, Boston, Cities, Class

28

"I may attempt a novel. I think that no matter what you write, it requires being honest with oneself, and you have to pull yourself out of the whirlwind of daily life."

"I may attempt a novel. I think that no matter what you write, it requires being honest with oneself, and you have to pull yourself out of the whirlwind of daily life."

Iris Chang, Chinese Historian

Life, Being, May

28

"Excuses are merely nails used to build a house of failure."

"Excuses are merely nails used to build a house of failure."

Habeeb Akande, British Historian

Responsibility, Truth, Wisdom, Observation, Failure

28

"Compared with the thousands of years in which human life has been on this planet, Christianity is a recent development."

"Compared with the thousands of years in which human life has been on this planet, Christianity is a recent development."

Kenneth Scott Latourette, American Historian

Life, Development, Christianity, Years

28

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