Best History Quotes | Short & Famous Sayings Page 13

“Against my will, I became a witness to the most terrible defeat of reason and to the most savage triumph of brutality ever chroniclednever before did a generation suffer such a moral setback after it had attained such intellectual heights.”

Reason Suffering Moral History Generations Terrible Intellectual Defeat Witness Triumph Height Savages Brutality Setback

Author:Stefan Zweig

“But in the intellectual world, there is room for all opposing forces: even that which never appears victorious in the real world continues to be effective as a dynamic force (in the intellectual world) and precisely the unfulfilled ideals prove to be the most invincible.”

World Real Force Rooms History Victory Prove Intellectual Ideals Real World Invincible Opposing

Author:Stefan Zweig

“Erasmus was the light of his century; others were its strength: he lighted the way; others knew how to walk on it while he himselfremained in the shadow as the source of light always does. But he who points the way into a new era is no less worthy of veneration than he who is the first to enter it; those who work invisibly have also accomplished a feat.”

Way Firsts Doe Light Leadership Walks History Century Source Shadow Worthy Eras Accomplished Feats New Era Veneration Erasmus

Author:Stefan Zweig

“Every epoch which seeks renewal first projects its ideal into a human form. In order to comprehend its own essence tangibly, the spirit of the time chooses a human being as its prototype and raising this single individual, often one upon whom it has chanced to come, far beyond his measure, the spirit enthuses itself for its own enthusiasm.”

Firsts Humans Form Spirit Order Individual Change Human Beings History Projects Ideals Essence Enthusiasm Renewal Epoch Human Form Prototype

Author:Stefan Zweig

“Of course, in the reality of history, the Machiavellian view which glorifies the principle of violence has been able to dominate.Not the compromising conciliatory politics of humaneness, not the Erasmian, but rather the politics of vested power which firmly exploits every opportunity, politics in the sense of the "Principe," has determined the development of European history ever since.”

Has Beens Reality Able Courses Opportunity Views Principles History Violence Development Europe Determined Compromise Exploits Glorify European History

Author:Stefan Zweig

“Never is a historic deed already completed when it is done but always only when it is handed down to posterity. What we call "history" by no means represents the sum total of all significant deeds.... World historyonly comprises that tiny lighted sector which chanced to be placed in the spotlight by poetic or scholarly depictions.”

World Mean Done History Deeds Tiny Significant Poetic Historic World History Posterity Spotlight Scholarly Depiction

Author:Stefan Zweig

“The Battle of Waterloo is a work of art with tension and drama with its unceasing change from hope to fear and back again, changewhich suddenly dissolves into a moment of extreme catastrophe, a model tragedy because the fate of Europe was determined within this individual fate.”

Art Moments Individual History Fate Drama Battle Models Europe Tragedy Extremes Determined Tension Works Of Art Catastrophe Back Again Waterloo

Author:Stefan Zweig

“A revolution is not the overturning of a cart, a reshuffling in the cards of state. It is a process, a swelling, a new growth in the race. If it is real, not simply a trauma, it is another ring in the tree of history, layer upon layer of invisible tissue composing the evidence of a circle.”

Ifs Real States Process Growth Change Race History Tree Revolution Evidence Trauma Rings Circles Invisible Cards Layers Composing Tissues Carts Swelling New Growth

Book:Flying

Source: Flying

“...It's all sort of dreams and it's all illusion. It's theater; it's not real. We're making up stories, you know, and people tend to run into you and believe you are your characters. And I suppose the funny thing is the longer you go, you do become sort of some version of [your characters]. You both diverge from them - you know - you live, but you also permanently inhabit that geography and that mental space - and so you do morph a little bit. We do become what we imagine.”

“There is a sort of myth of History that philosophers have.... History for philosophers is some sort of great, vast continuity in which the freedom of individuals and economic or social determinations come and get entangled. When someone lays a finger on one of those great themes--continuity, the effective exercise of human liberty, how individual liberty is articulated with social determinations--when someone touches one of these three myths, these good people start crying out that History is being raped or murdered.”

People Humans Three Individual Social Liberty History Economic Cry Exercise Determination Lays Fingers Philosopher Myth Theme Good People Continuity Individual Liberty

Author:Michel Foucault

“Why I love the ancients so much? Aside from everything else, when I read them, the entire past between them and me unfolds at thesame time. The hearts of how many heroes and poets may have been set on fire by Plutarch's biographies which now inspire me with their own and with borrowed flames!”

Heart May Has Beens Past Reading History Fire Inspire Poet Hero Flames Biographies Borrowed

Author:Franz Grillparzer

“History is the zoology of the human race.”

Humans Race History Human Race Humankind Zoology

Author:Franz Grillparzer

“Historical! Must it be historical to catch your attention? Even though historicity, like notoriety, denotes nothing more than thatsomething has occurred.”

Attention History Historical Notoriety

Author:Franz Grillparzer

“We all accuse Vladimir Putin of Cold War nostalgia, but Washington's elites - politicians and intellectuals - miss the old days as well. They wish for the world in which the United States was utterly dominant over its friends, its foes were to be shunned entirely, and the challenges were stark, moral, and vital. Today's world is messy and complicated. China is one of our biggest trading partners and our looming geopolitical rival. Russia is a surly spoiler, but it has a globalized middle class and has created ties in Europe.”

“The essential matter of history is not what happened but what people thought or said about it.”

People Said Matter History Happened Essentials

Author:Frederic William Maitland

“[Fighting Climate Change] is important for every single person on the planet, which is why it has to be the greatest grassroots movement of all time. This is the battle of our lives. We're fighting for our children.”

“I couldn't say who I am, I haven't the remotest notion of myself; I am someone without antecedents, without a history, without a country, and on that I insist!”

Country History Havens Notion Who I Am

Author:Peter Handke

“My mother saved our home with a minimum wage job. But in the 1960s, a minimum wage job would support a family of three above the poverty line. Not today. Not even close. I understood right then that people can work hard, they can play by the rules, and they can still take a hard smack.”

“Congress needs to send a strong signal that direct communication with the leader of the free world is a privilege, particularly for a regime that has been as hostile as Iran has been towards America for more than three decades. President Rouhani needs to take these two simple steps to demonstrate good faith before any further discussions.”

“The Court is making the preposterous assumption that the People of the United States somehow silently redefined marriage in 1868 when they ratified the 14th Amendment.”

“The well of public opinion has been well and truly poisoned by the Iraq episode.”

Wells Has Beens Politics Opinion History Policy Spring Ethics Iraq Terrorism Foreign Policy Episodes Diplomacy Public Opinion Arab Spring

Author:David Cameron

“I'm so sick and tired of all this violence, this gun violence. And how could I speak on it - you know - being one who has advocated violence and gun violence? The only way I could do it was through a song that spoke from the heart.”

“It is important to note that multiculturalism does not share the postmodernist stance. Its passions are political; its assumptionsempirical; its conception of identities visceral. For it, there is no doubting that history is something that happened and that those happenings have left their mark within our collective consciousness. History for multiculturalists is not a succession of dissolving texts, but a tense tangle of past actions that have reshaped the landscape, distributed the nation's wealth, established boundaries, engendered prejudices, and unleashed energies.”

“[Putin] is a bully. And bullies only understand when we punch them in the nose, but we need to do that economically.”

“Revolution calls my name. I will soon dwell in nothingness, and my name will be in the Pantheon of history.”

Death Names History Revolution Nothingness Pantheon

Author:Georg Buchner

“It is a law of nature that everything run by the government will get more expensive and worse over time. Everything run by the private sector will get better and cheaper over time. The fact that [Obamacare] starts this badly does not bode well....We want healthcare run on the same system that gave us cell phones, flat screens, Jerry Garcia chia pets. Everything you submit to the free market...keeps getting better and better.”

“The Senate used to be a place of great debate and accomplishment. Now it is run like a dictatorship shutting out the voices of millions of Americans.”

“I'll tell you...why Wonder Woman worked. Or Bionic Woman. Or any of those [shows] really. It was because it wasn't about brawn...it was about brains. And yes, she happened to be beautiful, she happened to be kind of extraordinary in some way, but she wasn't a guy. And I think that, [now], they...put out a female hero, and all they are doing is changing the costume from a man to a woman...they're not showcasing any of the tremendous dichotomies than women possess in term of softness and toughness, sweetness and grit, inner and outer strength.”

“No one understands that the First Amendment is only important if you are going to offend somebody. If you're not going to offend somebody, you don't need protection of the First Amendment.”

Ifs Needs Firsts Important Reality History Constitution Protection Amendments Free Speech First Amendment Disobedience Civil Disobedience

Author:Larry Flynt

“When the temperamental and unconventional people are not mere plagiarists of dead eccentrics, they lack, in almost every case, thehistoric sense.”

People History Cases Mere Rebellion Unconventional

Book:Modes and Morals

Source: Modes and Morals

“Now, there are roles which are capturing a vibrant moment in an older woman's life. There was a time when those interesting roles stopped at 28. A few years ago we would have been finished by our age.”

Years Has Beens Moments Age Interesting Roles History Generations Years Ago Finished Older Women

Author:Maggie Gyllenhaal

“I'm tired of the naked, raped, beaten black woman body. I want to see an image of black femaleness that alters our universe in some way.”

“It was the world of Southern, rural, black growing up, of folks sitting on porches day and night, of folks calling your mama, 'cause you walked by and didn't speak, and of the switch waiting when you got home so that you could be taught some manners. It was a world of single black older women schoolteachers, dedicated, tough; they had taught your mama, her sisters, and her friends. They knew your people in ways that you never would and shared their insight, keeping us in touch with generations. It was a world where we had a history.”

“In the months ahead, I will leave the Department of Justice, but I will never -- I will never -- leave the work. I will continue to serve and try to find ways to make our nation even more true to its founding ideals.”

Way Trying Father Politics Nations Leadership Work Justice History Democracy Policy Months Ideals Constitution Strategy Ideology Department Founding

Author:Eric Holder

“A half-century after racing the Russians to the moon, the U.S. is barely suiting up in the international race to secure interests in the Arctic.”

Science Politics Energy Interest Nature Leadership Space Race Half History Technology Generations Century Policy Moon International Secure Ideology Racing Foreign Policy Diplomacy Arctic

Author:Rick Larsen

“...I tried to kill myself. It was a feeble attempt, but I did. And I got put in a mental hospital for a month, and I got myself straight and worked on my mental health...it's nothing that I hide. It's nothing to be proud of or to be ashamed of. It's part of my life, you know? And I'm still here!”

Knows Stills Wisdom Reality Community History Health Months Proud Mental Health Ashamed Hospitals Be Proud

Author:Audra McDonald

“In the 2012 election, Obamacare, as it's called, and I'll be more polite - the ACA ...was a major issue in the campaign. I campaigned all over America for two months, everywhere I could. And in every single campaign rally I said, 'We have to repeal and replace Obamacare.' Well, the people spoke. They spoke, much to my dismay, but they spoke. And they reelected the President of the United States.”

“The Nazis believed in a master race. The militant Islamists believe in a master faith.”

Believe Religion Politics Race History Violence Generations Policy Masters Human Rights Terrorism Ideology Foreign Policy Free Speech Nazi Militant Partisanship Islamists

Author:Benjamin Netanyahu

“For three decades, Senator Arlen Specter served the people of Pennsylvania with independence, toughness, determination and an unflinching devotion to the best interests of his constituents and our country. From the committee room to the Senate chamber, Senator Specter offered a voice of reason and passion in every debate - always willing to reach across the aisle and work across party lines to get the job done, regardless of political gamesmanship or gain.”

“In battle, combatants engaged in war against America get no due process and may lawfully be killed. But citizens not in a battlefield - however despicable - are guaranteed a trial by our Constitution. No one argues that Americans who commit treason shouldn't be punished. The maximum penalty for treason is death. But the Constitution specifies the process necessary to convict.”

“Someone is an ignoramus who would say that, 'Oh, we had three hurricanes this year. This proves that somehow the climate is warming.' The earth is 4.5 billion years old, and you're going to say that we had four hurricanes and so it proves a theory?”

Years Reality Earth Science Three Politics Nature Party History Four Generations Theory Prove Climate Billions Ideology Tea Free Speech Hurricanes Tea Party

Author:Rand Paul

“You know, I've never believed, in anything, that you had to have role models who looked like you to do something. If I'd been waiting for a black, female, soviet specialist role model, I'd be still waiting.”

Ifs Knows Stills Wisdom Waiting Black Leadership Work Roles History Policy Like You Equal Models Female Individuality Ideology Role Models Soviet Foreign Policy Equal Rights Specialists

Author:Condoleezza Rice

“When the memory of one's predecessors is buried, the assumption persists that there were none and each generation of women believes itself to be faced with the burden of doing everything for the first time. And if no one ever did it beforewhy do we think we can succeed now?”

Ifs Thinking Firsts Believe Memories History Generations Succeed First Time Burden Assumption Buried Persist Predecessors

Author:Joanna Russ

“Power tends to corrupt. But the power in Washington resides in Congress, if it wants to use it. It can do anything-it can stop the Vietnam War. It can make its will felt, if it can ever get its act together to do anything.”

“History counts its skeletons in round numbers. A thousand and one remains a thousand, as though the one had never existed: an imaginary embryo, an empty cradle, ... emptiness running down steps toward the garden, nobody's place in line.”

World War Running Lines Numbers Steps History Thousand Garden Empty Remains Rounds War Of The Worlds Emptiness World War Ii Holocaust Imaginary World War I Cradle Skeletons Embryos

Author:Wislawa Szymborska

“I would love to play Nefertiti or Cleopatra or the Queen of Sheba. We preserve more male history than we do female. We have to preserve [female history]. No more complaining. We have to do it.”

Play Community Leadership Justice History Generations Equal Ethics Female Strategy Males Complaining Ideology Preserves Queens Equal Rights Nefertiti

Author:Zoe Saldana

“You know, my father was a great encouragement for me because he spoke out for women's rights, he spoke out for girl's education. And at that time I said that why should I wait for someone else, why should I be looking to the government, to the army that they would help us? Why don't I raise my voice, why don't we speak up for our rights?”

“We are human beings, and this is the part of our human nature, that we don't learn the importance of anything until it's snatched from our hands.”

Humans Wisdom Hands Human Beings History Human Nature Importance Human Rights Terrorism Ideology Free Speech

Author:Malala Yousafzai

“I believe the gun has no power because a gun can only kill, but a pen can give life.”

“Putting women's traditional needs at the center of social planning is not reverse sexism. It's the best way to reverse the increasing economic vulnerability of men and women alike.”

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History Quotes