The causes of events are ever more interesting than the events themselves.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
History is the ship carrying living memories to the future
—Stephen Spender (1909–95) English Poet, Critic
We are always doing, says he, “something for posterity, but I would see posterity do something for us.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times.
—Gustave Flaubert (1821–80) French Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
What is all our histories, but God showing himself, shaking and trampling on everything that he has not planted.
—Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658) British Head of State, Military Leader
If one looks with a cold eye at the mess man has made of history, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that he has been afflicted by some built-in mental disorder which drives him towards self-destruction.
—Arthur Koestler (1905–83) British Writer, Journalist, Political Refugee
The whole past is the procession of the present.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
To be a historian is to discover the facts in context, to discover what things mean, to lay before the reader your reconstruction of time, place, mood, to empathize even when you disagree. You read all the relevant material, you synthesize all the books, you speak to all the people you can, and then you write down what you known about the period. You feel you own it.
—Doris Kearns Goodwin (b.1943) American Biographer, Historian
History may not repeat itself, but it does rhyme a lot
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
One cannot be a good historian of the outward, visible world without giving some thought to the hidden, private life of ordinary people; and on the other hand one cannot be a good historian of this inner life without taking into account outward events where these are relevant. They are two orders of fact which reflect each other, which are always linked and which sometimes provoke each other.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge—that myth is more potent than history. I believe that dreams are more powerful than facts—That hope always triumphs over experience—That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.
—Robert Fulghum (b.1937) American Unitarian Universalist Author, Essayist, Clergyman
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
History remembers only the brilliant failures and the brilliant successes.
—Randolph Bourne (1886–1918) American Writer, Scholar
History is the essence of innumerable biographies.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.
—Karl Marx (1818–1883) German Philosopher, Economist
Reading maketh a full man; conference, a ready man: histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral philosophy, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
History needs distance, perspective. Facts and events which are too well attested cease, in some sort, to be malleable.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
Historians desiring to write the actions of men, ought to set down the simple truth, and not say anything for love or hatred; also to choose such an opportunity for writing as it may be lawful to think what they will, and write what they think, which is a rare happiness of the time.
—Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) English Courtier, Navigator, Poet
We are at a crossroads in human history. Never before has there been a moment so simultaneously perilous and promising. We are the first species to have taken evolution into our own hands.
—Carl Sagan (1934–96) American Astronomer
Once you uncover the history of this pattern and trace its roots, you will see that your reaction in the present moment is really a reaction from the past, a shadow character’s attempt to protect you from reexperiencing an old emotional wound, which instead sabotages you in the present.
—Connie Zweig (b.1949) American Minister, Columnist, Psychotherapist
The more we know of history, the less shall we esteem the subjects of it; and to despise our species is the price we must too often pay for our knowledge of it.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. Weeven we herehold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free—honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of earth.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
History is not a work of philosophy, it is a painting; it is necessary to combine narration with the representation of the subject, that is, it is necessary simultaneously to design and to paint; it is necessary to give to men the language and the sentiments of their times, not to regard the past in the light of our own opinion.
—Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand (1768–1848) French Writer, Academician, Statesman
We find but few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth. It is their common method to take on trust what they distribute to the public; by which means, a falsehood, once received from a famed writer, becomes traditional to posterity.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
James Joyce is right about history being a nightmare—but it may be that nightmare from which no one can awaken. People are trapped in history and history in trapped in them.
—James Baldwin (1924–87) American Novelist, Social Critic
History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say.
—William C. Durant (1861–1947) American Industrialist
History is not melodrama, even if it usually reads like that.
—Robert Penn Warren (1905–89) American Poet, Novelist, Literary Critic
What experience and history teach us is that people and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) German Philosopher