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.

History: An account, mostly false, of events unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.

History: An account, mostly false, of events unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools.

The dignity of history.

The dignity of history.

Qualities absolutely necessary for a historian: (1) Imagination. (2) Prejudice. (3) The power of writing your own biography at the read more

Qualities absolutely necessary for a historian: (1) Imagination. (2) Prejudice. (3) The power of writing your own biography at the same time.

The fate of a nation has often depended on the food or bad digestion of a prime minister.

The fate of a nation has often depended on the food or bad digestion of a prime minister.

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 can you be expected to govern a country that has 246 kinds of cheese?

How can you be expected to govern a country that has 246 kinds of cheese?

Hegel was right when he said that we learn from history that man can never learn anything from history.

Hegel was right when he said that we learn from history that man can never learn anything from history.

Many are always praising the by-gone time, for it is natural that the old should extol the days of their read more

Many are always praising the by-gone time, for it is natural that the old should extol the days of their youth; the weak, the time of their strength; the sick, the season of their vigor; and the disappointed, the spring-tide of their hopes.