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Barbara Tuchman

Barbara Tuchman Quotes

Historian

Barbara Tuchman was an American historian renowned for her in-depth research and vivid narrative style. Her works covered historical events from the Roman Empire to the 20th century, with 'Guns, Germs, and Steel' and 'The Guns of August' being particularly notable.

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Famous Barbara Tuchman Quotes

“Friendship of a kind that cannot easily be reversed tomorrow must have its roots in common interests and shared beliefs.”

Kind Belief Interest Friendship Common Tomorrow Roots Common Interests

Book:notes from china

Source: notes from china

“His (Deschamps') complaint of court life was the same as is made of government at the top in any age: it was composed of hypocrisy, flattery, lying, paying and betraying; it was where calumny and cupidity reigned, common sense lacked, truth dared not appear, and where to survive one had to be deaf, blind, and dumb.”

Made Government Age Lying Common Blind Court Common Sense Dumb Hypocrisy Betray Complaints Flattery Deaf Calumny

Book:A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

Source: A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

“If it is not profitable for the common good that authority should be retained, it ought to be relinquished.”

Ifs Should Common Ought Authority Profitable Common Good

Book:A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

Source: A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

“Modern historians have suggested that in his last years he (Richard II) was overtaken by mental disease, but that is only a modern view of the malfunction common to 14th century rulers: inability to inhibit impulse.”

Years Lasts Views Common Modern Century Disease Impulse Historian Rulers Last Year Inability Malfunction Richard Ii

Author:Barbara Tuchman

“Wisdom - meaning judgment acting on experience, common sense, available knowledge, and a decent appreciation of probability.”

Wisdom Common Acting Judgment Appreciation Available Common Sense Decent Probability

Author:Barbara Tuchman

“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.”

Source: notes from china