History Quotes: Timeless Wisdom from the Past

"The past actually happened but history is only what someone wrote down"

"History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon"

"A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason; if he possesses some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himself an architect"

Walter Scott, Novelist

"We have our own history, our own language, our own culture. But our destiny is also tied up with the destinies of other people - history has made us all South Africans"

Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Leader

"History is a set of lies agreed upon"

Napoleon Bonaparte, Leader

"History takes time. History makes memory"

Gertrude Stein, Author

"The greatest honor history can bestow is that of peacemaker"

Richard M. Nixon, President

"But history is neither watchmaking nor cabinet construction. It is an endeavor toward better understanding"

Marc Bloch, Historian

"We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it"

John F. Kennedy, President

"The 4th Amendment and the personal rights it secures have a long history. At the very core stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion"

Potter Stewart, Judge

"History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology"

W. H. Auden, Poet

"Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him"

Dwight D. Eisenhower, President

"It is humiliating to remain with our hands folded while others write history. It matters little who wins. To make a people great it is necessary to send them to battle even if you have to kick them in the pants. That is what I shall do"

Benito Mussolini, Politician

"Time will inevitably uncover dishonesty and lies; history has no place for them"

Norodom Sihanouk, Royalty

"History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vested interests have never been known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them"

B. R. Ambedkar, Politician

"I take office during the most difficult moment in the country's recent history. The country can be saved - it's up to us. I think it is obvious for those who support this government to undertake the commitment and ensure that our country's euro membership is not endangered"

Lucas Papademos, Politician

"I do not think it is an exaggeration to say history is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments"

Friedrich August von Hayek, Economist

"Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire"

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Philosopher

"The sigh of History rises over ruins, not over landscapes, and in the Antilles there are few ruins to sigh over, apart from the ruins of sugar estates and abandoned forts"

Derek Walcott, Playwright

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past"

Thomas Jefferson, President

"Those who weep for the happy periods which they encounter in history acknowledge what they want; not the alleviation but the silencing of misery"

Albert Camus, Philosopher

"Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both"

C. Wright Mills, Sociologist

"I often say of George Washington that he was one of the few in the whole history of the world who was not carried away by power"

Robert Frost, Poet

"The majority see the obstacles; the few see the objectives; history records the successes of the latter, while oblivion is the reward of the former"

Alfred A. Montapert, Philosopher

"No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is misremembered now"

Richard M. Nixon, President

"The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle"

Eric Hoffer, Writer

"The history of saints is mainly the history of insane people"

Benito Mussolini, Politician

"Psychology keeps trying to vindicate human nature. History keeps undermining the effort"

Mason Cooley, Writer

"Blood alone moves the wheels of history"

Martin Luther, Professor

"Look, three love affairs in history, are Abelard and Eloise, Romeo and Juliet and the American media and this President at the moment. But this doesn't matter over time. Reality will impinge. If his programs work, he's fine. If it doesn't work, all of the adulation of journalists in the world won't matter"

George Will, Journalist

"We live in an era with no historical precedents. History is no longer useful as a tool in helping us understand current changes"

Doug Coupland, Author

"Sometimes - history needs a push"

Vladimir Lenin, Leader

"The future belongs to the strong; the weak will be swept away by the tide of history"

Wilhelm II, Statesman

"Every actor in the room honored Sidney for being there so many years before. And everybody was so moved to be at a place where history was being made again. It was tangible"

Lee Grant, Actress

"History is mostly guessing; the rest is prejudice"

Will Durant, Historian

"While we are living in the present, we must celebrate life every day, knowing that we are becoming history with every work, every action, every deed"

Mattie Stepanek, Poet

"I think that to a very great extent we are partners with the divine in this enterprise called history. That is an ongoing relationship, and there is absolutely no guarantee that things will automatically work out to our best advantage"

Chaim Potok, Author

"Democrats believe that government should reflect the sense of community that Americans demonstrated after Katrina - the sense of community that has defined and united America throughout its history"

Patrick J. Kennedy, Politician

"Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering"

Theodore Roosevelt, President

"I believe that history has shape, order, and meaning; that exceptional men, as much as economic forces, produce change; and that passe abstractions like beauty, nobility, and greatness have a shifting but continuing validity"

Camille Paglia, Author

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