History is only the pattern of silken slippers descending the stairs to the thunder of hobnailed boots climbing upward from below.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
For my part, I consider that it will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
Ignorance is the first requisite of the historian—ignorance, which simplifies and clarifies, which selects and omits, with a placid perfection unattainable by the highest art.
—Lytton Strachey (1880–1932) British Biographer, Essayist
All history becomes subjective; in other words there is properly no history, only biography.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
History is a race between education and catastrophe.
—H. G. Wells (1866–1946) English Novelist, Historian, Social Thinker
Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
History is Philosophy teaching by examples.
—Thucydides (c.455?c.400 BCE) Greek Historian
History is but the unrolled scroll of prophecy.
—James A. Garfield (1831–81) American Head of State, Lawyer, Educator
History is a myth that men agree to believe.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
History, by appraising. ..[the students] of the past, will enable them to judge of the future.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
The best thing which we derive from history is the enthusiasm that it raises in us.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Posterity gives every man his true value.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
Historian—an unsuccessful novelist.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
Men make their own history, but they do not make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly found, given, and transmitted from the past.
—Karl Marx (1818–1883) German Philosopher, Economist
Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.
—Haile Selassie
It’s clear that something must be done about the effectively disruptive tactics of anarchistic handfuls (at political rallies). Handling the occasional heckler is a storied, valuable art in politics; but a militant group of grubs (have) announced their determination to rape the right of candidates to be heard and of citizens to hear. Far, far too often these stinky finkies succeeded…. Free speech is the first requisite of freedom and a viable, functioning democracy. The exercise of it cannot be at the option of those who think the right to dissent includes the right to destroy.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
History books that contain no lies are extremely dull.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
The future of nations cannot be frozen … cannot be foreseen. It we are going to accomplish anything in our time we must approach our problem in the knowledge that there is nothing rigid or immutable in human affairs. History is a story of growth, decay and change. If no provision, no allowance is made for change by peaceful means, it will come anyway-and with violence.
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) 31st American President
American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.
—James Baldwin (1924–87) American Novelist, Social Critic
Historians give us the extraordinary events, and omit just what we want, the everyday life of each particular time and country.
—Richard Whately (1787–1863) English Philosopher, Theologian
Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.
—Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) Indian Head of State
History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
History does nothing; it does not possess immense riches, it does not fight battles. It is men, real, living, who do all this
—Karl Marx (1818–1883) German Philosopher, Economist
From the heights of these pyramids, forty centuries look down on us.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. In the first stage of life the mind is frivolous and easily distracted; it misses progress by failing in consecutiveness and persistence. This is the condition of children and barbarians.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
History is not the story of heroes entirely. It is often the story of cruelty and injustice and shortsightedness. There are monsters, there is evil, there is betrayal. That’s why people should read Shakespeare and Dickens as well as history—they will find the best, the worst, the height of noble attainment and the depths of depravity.
—David McCullough (1933–2022) American Historian
No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
History is one of the most remarkable things in our lives. The mere fact it occurred makes it remarkable.
—Unknown
Historian. A broad—gauge gossip.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
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