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Barbara Tuchman

Barbara Tuchman Quotes

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Famous Barbara Tuchman Quotes

“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change (as the poet said), windows on the world and lighthouses erected in the sea of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print.”

WorldMindHas BeensSaidBookHumanityLiteratureTeacherImpossibleSeaPoetDevelopmentCivilizationWindowSilentTreasureDumbCompanionPrintEnginesSpeculationMagicianBankersCrippledCarrierLighthouseStandstill
Author:Barbara Tuchman
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“Misgovernment is of four kinds, often in combination. They are: 1) tyranny or oppression, of which history provides so many well-known examples that they do not need citing; 2) excessive ambition, such as Athens' attempted conquest of Sicily in the Peloponnesian War, Philip II's of England via the Armada, Germany's twice-attempted rule of Europe by a self-conceived master race, Japan's bid for an empire of Asia; 3) incompetence or decadence, as in the case of the late Roman empire, the last Romanovs and the last imperial dynasty of China; and finally 4) folly or perversity.”

NeedsWellsKindWarSelfLastsRaceKnownCasesFourExampleMastersAmbitionLateEuropeEnglandChinaTyrannyOppressionCombinationGermanyFollyEmpiresJapanWell KnownAsiaConquestIncompetenceRoman EmpireDecadencePhilipAthensDynastyCitingPerversity
Book:The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam
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“In a country where misery and want were the foundation of the social structure, famine was periodic, death from starvation common, disease pervasive, thievery normal, and graft and corruption taken for granted, the elimination of these conditions in Communist China is so striking that negative aspects of the new rule fade in relative importance.”

WantCountryDeathSocialCommonTakenConditionsDiseaseNormalNegativeAspectImportanceFoundationStructureMiseryCorruptionChinaGrantedCommunistRelativeFadesStarvationFamineEliminationTaken For GrantedSocial StructureThieveryCommunist China
Book:notes from china
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“In April 1917 the illusion of isolation was destroyed, America came to the end of innocence, and of the exuberant freedom of bachelor independence. That the responsibilities of world power have not made us happier is no surprise. To help ourselves manage them, we have replaced the illusion of isolation with a new illusion of omnipotence.”

WorldMadeEndsHelpingAmericaResponsibilityIllusionIndependenceSurpriseDestroyedManageInnocenceIsolationReplacedAprilBachelorsOmnipotenceWorld Power
Author:Barbara Tuchman
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“To ensure that no one gained an advantage over anyone else, commercial law prohibited innovation in tools or techniques, underselling below a fixed price, working late by artificial light, employing extra apprentices or wife and under-age children, and advertising of wares or praising them to the detriment of others.”

ChildrenLightLawWifeCenturyLateAdvantageToolsInnovationPraiseTechniqueAdvertisingFixedExtrasArtificialApprenticeEmployingArtificial LightWorking Late
Author:Barbara Tuchman
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“No economic activity was more irrepressible [in the 14th century] than the investment and lending at interest of money; it was the basis for the rise of the Western capitalist economy and the building of private fortunes-and it was based on the sin of usury.”

InterestSinEconomyEconomicCenturyBuildingActivityCapitalismBasesFortuneInvestmentWesternCapitalistLendingUsuryIrrepressibleCapitalist Economy
Book:A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
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