History books that contain no lies are extremely dull.

History books that contain no lies are extremely dull.

For historians ought to be precise, truthful, and quite unprejudiced, and neither interest nor fear, hatred nor affection, should cause read more

For historians ought to be precise, truthful, and quite unprejudiced, and neither interest nor fear, hatred nor affection, should cause them to swerve from the path of truth, whose mother is history, the rival of time, the depository of great actions, the witness of what is past, the example and instruction of the present, the monitor of the future.

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful read more

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death

History is past politics; and politics present history.

History is past politics; and politics present history.

Fear of serious injury alone cannot justify oppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It read more

Fear of serious injury alone cannot justify oppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.

The long historian of my country's woes.

The long historian of my country's woes.

The man who sees two or three generations is like someone who sits in a conjurer's booth at a fair read more

The man who sees two or three generations is like someone who sits in a conjurer's booth at a fair and sees the tricks two or three times. They are meant to be seen only once.

The past grows gradually around one, like a placenta for dying.

The past grows gradually around one, like a placenta for dying.

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.