Thomas Carlyle

History, a distillation of rumor.

History, a distillation of rumor.

We do everything by custom, even believe by it; our very axioms, let us boast of free-thinking as we may, read more

We do everything by custom, even believe by it; our very axioms, let us boast of free-thinking as we may, are oftenest simply such beliefs as we have never heard questioned.

Instead of saying that man is the creature of circumstance, it would be nearer the mark to say that man read more

Instead of saying that man is the creature of circumstance, it would be nearer the mark to say that man is the architect of circumstance. It is character which builds an existence out of circumstance. From the same materials one man builds palaces, another hovels; one warehouses, another villas; bricks and mortar are mortar and bricks until the architect can make them something else.

The Present is the living sum-total of the whole Past.

The Present is the living sum-total of the whole Past.

He who first shortened the labor of Copyists by device of Movable
Types was disbanding hired armies and cashiering read more

He who first shortened the labor of Copyists by device of Movable
Types was disbanding hired armies and cashiering most Kings and
Senates, and creating a whole new Democratic world: he had
invented the Art of printing.