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Quotes by Historian
"It is impossible to underrate human intelligence - beginning with one's own."
55
"With the Truman book, I wrote the entire account of his experiences in World War I before going over to Europe to follow his tracks in the war. When I got there, there was a certain satisfaction in finding I had it right - it does look like that."
55
"Conservatives unwittingly side with the social forces that contribute to the destruction of traditional values."
55
"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."
55
"My favorite book is the last one printed, which is always better than those that were published earlier."
55
"Moral codes adjust themselves to environmental conditions."
55
"Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive."
54
"No man, however strong, can serve ten years as schoolmaster, priest, or Senator, and remain fit for anything else."
54
"Imperialism was genuinely popular among Athenians who would expect to share in its profits, even if only indirectly and collectively, and not to have to bear its burdens."
54
"He who overcomes himself is divine. Most see their ruin before their eyes; but they go on into it."
54
"The best portraits are those in which there is a slight mixture of caricature."
54
"History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind."
54
"The reader need not be told that John Bull never leaves home without encumbering himself with the greatest possible load of luggage. Our companions were no exception to the rule."
Home,
54
"Man became free when he recognized that he was subject to law."
54
"Fort Leavenworth is in fact no fort, being without defensive works, except two block-houses."
54
"Freedom of conscience entails more dangers than authority and despotism."
54
"The left no longer stands for common sense, as it did in the days of Tom Paine."
54
"The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play."
54
"Nature has never read the Declaration of Independence. It continues to make us unequal."
54
"Many Americans first fell in love with the poetry of the thirteenth century teacher and spiritual leader Jelalludin Rumi during the early 1990s when the unparalleled lyrical grace, philosophical brilliance, and spiritual daring of his work took modern Western readers completely by surprise. The impact of its soulful beauty and the depth of its profound humanity were so intense that they reportedly prompted numerous individuals to spontaneously compose poetry."
54
"Rulers do not reduce taxes to be kind. Expediency and greed create high taxation, and normally it takes an impending catastrophe to bring it down."
54
"To have a liberal temperament is a kind of psychological boon, To be able to understand that someone you disagree with is not just a terrible creature but somebody with whom you disagree."
54
"To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice."
54
"Under conditions of tyranny it is far easier to act than to think."
54
"Do we settle on a regional team because we can go to its ballpark and see its games on television? Or do we choose a team as our favorite because it has an especially appealing player, a Barry Bonds or an Ichiro?"
53
"If we are to preserve culture we must continue to create it."
53
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