History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

The greatest inventions were produced in the times of ignorance, as the use of the compass, gunpowder, and printing.

The greatest inventions were produced in the times of ignorance, as the use of the compass, gunpowder, and printing.

It is not the literal past, the "facts" of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in read more

It is not the literal past, the "facts" of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in language.

How many pens are broken, how many ink bottles consumed, to write about things that have never happened.

How many pens are broken, how many ink bottles consumed, to write about things that have never happened.

Tyranny destroys or strengthens the individual; freedom enervates him, until he becomes no more than a puppet. Man has more read more

Tyranny destroys or strengthens the individual; freedom enervates him, until he becomes no more than a puppet. Man has more chances of saving himself by hell than by paradise.

I would much rather have men ask why I have no statue than why I have one.

I would much rather have men ask why I have no statue than why I have one.

History knows no resting place and no plateaus.

History knows no resting place and no plateaus.

I once asked my history teacher how we were expected to learn anything useful from his subject, when it seemed read more

I once asked my history teacher how we were expected to learn anything useful from his subject, when it seemed to me to be nothing but a monotonous and sordid succession of robber baron scumbags devoid of any admirable human qualities. I failed history.

Nostalgia is a seductive liar.

Nostalgia is a seductive liar.