Quotes by Historian | Beyond Motive 9/27

top of page

Quotes by Historian

"If the white man wants to hold on to it, let him do so; but the Negro, so far as he is able, should develop and carry out a program of his own."

"If the white man wants to hold on to it, let him do so; but the Negro, so far as he is able, should develop and carry out a program of his own."

Carter G. Woodson, American Historian

4

"The fleet sailed to its war base in the North Sea, headed not so much for some rendezvous with glory as for rendezvous with discretion."

"The fleet sailed to its war base in the North Sea, headed not so much for some rendezvous with glory as for rendezvous with discretion."

Barbara Tuchman, American Historian

War, Discretion, Glory, Sea

4

"In this respect early youth is exactly like old age; it is a time of waiting for a big trip to an unknown destination. The chief difference is that youth waits for the morning limited and age waits for the night train."

"In this respect early youth is exactly like old age; it is a time of waiting for a big trip to an unknown destination. The chief difference is that youth waits for the morning limited and age waits for the night train."

Bruce Catton, American Historian

Age, Time, Difference, Night

4

"War vies with magic in its efforts to get something for nothing."

"War vies with magic in its efforts to get something for nothing."

Louis Mumford, American Historian

War, Magic, Nothing

4

"Learn as much by writing as by reading."

"Learn as much by writing as by reading."

Lord Acton, British Historian

Reading, Writing

4

"Only very slowly and late have men come to realize that unless freedom is universal it is only extended privilege."

"Only very slowly and late have men come to realize that unless freedom is universal it is only extended privilege."

John Edward Christopher Hill, English Historian

Man, Men, Freedom, Privilege

4

"Enthusiasm could not supply the place of experience."

"Enthusiasm could not supply the place of experience."

John Lothrop Motley, American Historian

Experience, Enthusiasm

4

"Death not merely ends life, it also bestows upon it a silent completeness, snatched from the hazardous flux to which all things human are subject."

"Death not merely ends life, it also bestows upon it a silent completeness, snatched from the hazardous flux to which all things human are subject."

Hannah Arendt, German Historian

4

"Routine is not organization, any more than paralysis is order."

"Routine is not organization, any more than paralysis is order."

Arthur Helps, British Historian

4

"I wrote as a very angry young man, believing he was going to be killed in a world war."

"I wrote as a very angry young man, believing he was going to be killed in a world war."

John Edward Christopher Hill, English Historian

War, Man, World, Worldwar

4

"Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master."

"Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master."

Sallust, Roman Historian

Man, Men, Desire, Liberty

4

"Custer had dead heroes. Crazy Horse had only live ones."

"Custer had dead heroes. Crazy Horse had only live ones."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

Heroism, Heroes

4

"Though bitter, good medicine cures illness. Though it may hurt, loyal criticism will have beneficial effects."

"Though bitter, good medicine cures illness. Though it may hurt, loyal criticism will have beneficial effects."

Sima Qian, Chinese Historian

Criticism, Hurt, Illness, May

4

"Everyone carries his own inch rule of taste, and amuses himself by applying it, triumphantly, wherever he travels."

"Everyone carries his own inch rule of taste, and amuses himself by applying it, triumphantly, wherever he travels."

Henry B. Adams, American Historian

4

"Experience teaches slowly, and at the cost of mistakes."

"Experience teaches slowly, and at the cost of mistakes."

James Anthony Froude, English Historian

Experience, Mistakes

4

"Award trophies, as opposed to letting the players define and claim their own. Ultimately, pay them to play so that their activity not only resembles work but is work."

"Award trophies, as opposed to letting the players define and claim their own. Ultimately, pay them to play so that their activity not only resembles work but is work."

John Thorn, American Historian

4

"I think that black Africa is extremely terrifying. Black Africa can become a maelstrom of warring tribes without the outside world needing to feel the need to do anything about it."

"I think that black Africa is extremely terrifying. Black Africa can become a maelstrom of warring tribes without the outside world needing to feel the need to do anything about it."

John Keegan, English Historian

4

"Culture relates to objects and is a phenomenon of the world; entertainment relates to people and is a phenomenon of life."

"Culture relates to objects and is a phenomenon of the world; entertainment relates to people and is a phenomenon of life."

Hannah Arendt, German Historian

Life, People, Culture, Entertainment

4

"A master of improvised speech and improvised policies."

"A master of improvised speech and improvised policies."

A. J. P. Taylor, British Historian

President, Speech

4

"Total loyalty is possible only when fidelity is emptied of all concrete content, from which changes of mind might naturally arise."

"Total loyalty is possible only when fidelity is emptied of all concrete content, from which changes of mind might naturally arise."

Hannah Arendt, German Historian

Content, Fidelity, Loyalty, Mind

4

"Choose an author as you choose a friend."

"Choose an author as you choose a friend."

Arthur Helps, British Historian

Friendship, Friend

4

"The greatest luxury of riches is that they enable you to escape so much good advice."

"The greatest luxury of riches is that they enable you to escape so much good advice."

Arthur Helps, British Historian

4

"Of the twenty-two civilizations that have appeared in history, nineteen of them collapsed when they reached the moral state the United States is in now."

"Of the twenty-two civilizations that have appeared in history, nineteen of them collapsed when they reached the moral state the United States is in now."

Arnold J. Toynbee, British Historian

History, Now, State, States

4

"It is frequently a misfortune to have very brilliant men in charge of affairs. They expect too much of ordinary men."

"It is frequently a misfortune to have very brilliant men in charge of affairs. They expect too much of ordinary men."

Thucydides, Greek Historian

Man, Men, Misfortune

4

"We are a conquering race. We must obey our blood and occupy new markets and if necessary new lands."

"We are a conquering race. We must obey our blood and occupy new markets and if necessary new lands."

Albert J. Beveridge, American Historian

4

"If the gods had intended for people to vote, they would have given us candidates."

"If the gods had intended for people to vote, they would have given us candidates."

Howard Zinn, American Historian

People, Gods, Vote

4

"It's commonly said that people who've been ill in childhood and who've had an upset education never really regret that they do. It means that you don't look at the world in the way that other people do, and if you were inclined to be a writer, that's a help."

"It's commonly said that people who've been ill in childhood and who've had an upset education never really regret that they do. It means that you don't look at the world in the way that other people do, and if you were inclined to be a writer, that's a help."

John Keegan, English Historian

Education, People, Childhood, Help

4

"The great armies, accumulated to provide security and preserve the peace, carried the nations to war by their own weight."

"The great armies, accumulated to provide security and preserve the peace, carried the nations to war by their own weight."

A. J. P. Taylor, British Historian

War, Peace, Nations, Security

4

"The unrecorded past is none other than our old friend, the tree in the primeval forest which fell without being heard."

"The unrecorded past is none other than our old friend, the tree in the primeval forest which fell without being heard."

Barbara Tuchman, American Historian

Friendship, Friend, Being, Old, Past

4

"The Canadians have managed to live peacefully with their Indians. It is disgrace that the United States has not done the same."

"The Canadians have managed to live peacefully with their Indians. It is disgrace that the United States has not done the same."

Stephen Ambrose, American Historian

Canada, Disgrace, States, United

4

"Expansion means complexity and complexity decay."

"Expansion means complexity and complexity decay."

C. Northcote Parkinson, British Historian

4

"Nothing so comforts the military mind as the maxim of a great but dead general."

"Nothing so comforts the military mind as the maxim of a great but dead general."

Barbara Tuchman, American Historian

History, Maxim, Military, Mind, Nothing

4

"Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading."

"Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading."

G. M. Trevelyan, English Historian

Education, Population, Reading, Worth

4

"The participation of the people in their own government was the more significant, because the colonies actually had what England only seemed to have, - three departments of government."

"The participation of the people in their own government was the more significant, because the colonies actually had what England only seemed to have, - three departments of government."

Albert Bushnell Hart, American Historian

Government, People, England, Participation

4

"Keep your feet on the ground, but let your heart soar as high as it will. Refuse to be average or to surrender to the chill of your spiritual environment."

"Keep your feet on the ground, but let your heart soar as high as it will. Refuse to be average or to surrender to the chill of your spiritual environment."

Arthur Helps, British Historian

Heart, Environment, Feet, Spiritual

4

"It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it."

"It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it."

Arnold J. Toynbee, British Historian

4

"Then you get to the last half of the 20th century, Americans are getting very skeptical about their leaders and their institutions, and another place that is affected is parties and conventions."

"Then you get to the last half of the 20th century, Americans are getting very skeptical about their leaders and their institutions, and another place that is affected is parties and conventions."

Michael Beschloss, American Historian

American, Americans, Leaders

4

"Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know."

"Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know."

Daniel J. Boorstin, American Historian

Education, Learning

4

"The ABC of our profession is to avoid these large abstract terms in order to try to discover behind them the only concrete realities, which are human beings."

"The ABC of our profession is to avoid these large abstract terms in order to try to discover behind them the only concrete realities, which are human beings."

Marc Bloch, French Historian

Politics, Order, Profession

4

"Nothing sickens me more than the closed door of a library."

"Nothing sickens me more than the closed door of a library."

Barbara Tuchman, American Historian

4

"Burglars know there's more than one way to skin a vault."

"Burglars know there's more than one way to skin a vault."

James Chiles, American Historian

4

"War is the unfolding of miscalculations."

"War is the unfolding of miscalculations."

Barbara Tuchman, American Historian

4

"The notion that Jews are mythic creatures is well circulating in our culture."

"The notion that Jews are mythic creatures is well circulating in our culture."

Steven T. Katz, American Historian

Cultural, Culture

4

"Sooner or later, man has always had to decide whether he worships his own power or the power of God."

"Sooner or later, man has always had to decide whether he worships his own power or the power of God."

Arnold J. Toynbee, British Historian

Power, God, Man

4

"Avarice is the vice of declining years."

"Avarice is the vice of declining years."

George Bancroft, American Historian

Emotional, Vice, Years

4

"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

4

"From whichever angle one looks at it, the application of racial theories remains a striking proof of the lowered demands of public opinion upon the purity of critical judgment."

"From whichever angle one looks at it, the application of racial theories remains a striking proof of the lowered demands of public opinion upon the purity of critical judgment."

Johan Huizinga, Dutch Historian

Judgment, Opinion, Proof, Public

4

"A religion so cheerless, a philosophy so sorrowful, could never have succeeded with the masses of mankind if presented only as a system of metaphysics. Buddhism owed its success to its catholic spirit and its beautiful morality."

"A religion so cheerless, a philosophy so sorrowful, could never have succeeded with the masses of mankind if presented only as a system of metaphysics. Buddhism owed its success to its catholic spirit and its beautiful morality."

William Winwood Reade, Scottish Historian

Religion, Success, Morality, Buddhism

4

"Information, usually seen as the precondition of debate, is better understood as its by-product."

"Information, usually seen as the precondition of debate, is better understood as its by-product."

Christopher Lasch, American Historian

Debate, Information

4

"Every bad precedent originated as a justifiable measure."

"Every bad precedent originated as a justifiable measure."

Sallust, Roman Historian

Precedent, Measure

4

bottom of page