“As you may recall, Truman was extremely unpopular when he finally left Washington in 1953, thanks largely to the Korean War. Today, however, he is thought to have been a solidly good president, a 'Near Great' even, in the terminology of those surveys of historians they do every now and then.” MayHas BeensWarTodayLeftPresidentThanksHistorianNow And ThenRecallsKoreanSurveysTerminologyTrumanKorean War Author:Thomas Frank
“It may be said of many palaeontologists, as Professor Hugh Trevor-Roper said recently of 18th century historians: "Their most serious error was to measure the past by the present".” MaySaidPastScienceCenturySeriousErrorsProfessorsHistorian18th Century Author:D. V. Ager
“The apparent pointlessness of fashion may be just what makes it so strong as a zeitgeist sensor. Even I, a designer, do not know why a certain proportion feels dated or why another one feels exciting at a given moment. I leave that to the cultural historians and theorists.” KnowsFeelsMayMomentsCertainStrongGivenFashionExcitingDesignerProportionHistorianTheoristsZeitgeistSensorsPointlessness Author:Jil Sander
“To describe love-making is immoral and immodest; you know it is. To describe it as it really is, or would appear to you and me as lookers-on, would be to describe the most dreary farce, to chronicle the most tautological twaddle. To take note of sighs, hand-squeezes, looks at the moon, and so forth--does this business become our dignity as historians? Come away from those foolish young people--they don't want us; and dreary as their farce is, and tautological as their twaddle, you may be sure it amuses them, and that they are happy enough without us.” PeopleKnowsWantLoveLooksMayDoeEnoughHandsWould BeYoungMoonDignityNotesFoolishHistorianSighImmoralWant ULove MakingDrearyChroniclesFarce Book:Works Source: Works
“We may need simple and heroic legends for that peculiar genre of literature known as the textbook. But historians must also labor to rescue human beings from their legends in science if only so that we may understand the process of scientific thought aright.” IfsNeedsHumansMayLiteratureProcessHuman BeingsSimpleKnownLaborGenreHistorianPeculiarLegendsHeroicRescueTextbooks Book:The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History Source: The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History