The history of mankind is little else than a narrative of designs which have failed and hopes that have been read more

The history of mankind is little else than a narrative of designs which have failed and hopes that have been disappointed.

Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.

Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.

History is the great dust-heap... a pageant and not a philosophy.

History is the great dust-heap... a pageant and not a philosophy.

A man can be a hero if he is a scientist, or a soldier, or a drug addict, or a read more

A man can be a hero if he is a scientist, or a soldier, or a drug addict, or a disc jockey, or a crummy mediocre politician. A man can be a hero because he suffers and despairs; or because he thinks logically and analytically; or because he is "sensitive;" or because he is cruel. Wealth establishes a man as a hero, and so does poverty. Virtually any circumstance in a man's life will make him a hero to some group of people and has a mythic rendering in the culture -- in literature, art, theater, or the daily newspapers.

The historian sees backward. In the end he also believes backward.

The historian sees backward. In the end he also believes backward.

Every man is his own ancestor, and every man his own heir. He devises his own fortune, and he inherits read more

Every man is his own ancestor, and every man his own heir. He devises his own fortune, and he inherits his own past.

The men who make history have not time to write it.

The men who make history have not time to write it.

History is a confused heap of facts.

History is a confused heap of facts.

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they
have exhausted all other alternatives.

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they
have exhausted all other alternatives.