Great Historical Quotes

• I think one of the great historical contributions of science is to weaken the hold of religion. That's a good thing.

  Steven Weinberg

  Thinking, Historical, Religion

  52 Copy quote

• Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders; no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way out for himself if society is sweeping toward destruction. Therefore, everyone, in his own interests, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle. None can stand aside with unconcern; the interest of everyone hangs on the result. Whether he chooses or not, every man is drawn into the great historical struggle, the decisive battle into which our epoch has plunged us.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Struggle, Responsibility, Men

  Ludwig Von Mises (1974). “Planning for freedom, and twelve other essays and addresses”

  11 Copy quote

  Show source

• Without doubt, President [Barack] Obama is a great historical figure.

  Henry Louis Gates

  Historical, Doubt, President

  4 Copy quote

• Be The Peace You Wish To See In The World!

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Motivational, Change

  143 Copy quote

• As much as I care about historical context - I'm very eager to read a really great historical account.

  Jonathan Lethem

  Historical, Care, Really Great

  "Fear of Music". Interview with Jayson Greene, pitchfork.com. May 29, 2012.

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The truth is that History, with its imposing capital H, is simply the amalgamation of many quotidian lives lived in very ordinary ways. History is always personal. If you read Holocaust survivor or American slavery survivor narratives, you realize all too well that these great Historical moments were personal to someone at some time.

  Chris Abani

  Holocaust, Historical, Ordinary

  "The Rumpus Interview With Chris Abani". Interview with Peter Orner, therumpus.net. February 10, 2014.

  12 Copy quote

  Show source

• It's so damn hard to write a great historical mystery based on fact. It's not for lack of trying.

  Jon Turteltaub

  Writing, Historical, Trying

  Source: collider.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• What does anyone really know about the impetus to go to war? And so much is uncovered in hindsight. And there are aspects of even past wars that are only coming out now. Historians discover letters here, notes there, and look very carefully at different aspects of not only any conflict but any great historical event.

  Jacqueline Winspear

  War, Past, Historical

  Source: www.motherjones.com

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• One belief, more than any other, is responsible for the slaughter of individuals on the alter of the great historical ideas - justice or progress or happiness of future generations... or emancipation of a nation or race or class... this is the belief that somewhere... there is a final solution.

  Isaiah Berlin

  Race, Class, Ideas

  17 Copy quote

• It's a great historical joke that when the Spanish met the Aztecs, it was a blind date made in serve-you-right heaven. At the time, they were the two most unpleasant cultures in the entire world, and richly deserved each other. Still, the story of how stout Cortes blustered, bullied and bludgeoned his way to collapsing an entire empire with a handful of contagious hoodlums is astonishing.

  A. A. Gill

  Two, History, Heaven

  43 Copy quote

• A revolution that is based on the people exercising their creativity in the midst of devastation is one of the great historical contributions of humankind.

  Grace Lee Boggs

  Creativity, Exercise, People

  273 Copy quote

• Boredom and fatigue are great historical forces.

  Jacques Barzun

  Boredom, Historical, Force

  "The age of entropy" by Stephen Moss, www.theguardian.com. March 2, 2001.

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• To have united the purposes of an entire Nation, is the great historical achievement of the man in whose strong hands our President has placed the fate of our people.

  Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach

  Strong, Fate, Men

  7 Copy quote

• Americans must outgrow the unbecoming arrogance that leads us to assert that America somehow owns a monopoly on goodness and truth - a belief that leads some to view the world as but a stage on which to play out the great historical drama: the United States of America versus the Powers of Evil.

  Feisal Abdul Rauf

  Drama, Views, Play

  "Imam Rauf: What's right with Islam" by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, www.cnn.com. September 12, 2010.

  6 Copy quote

  Show source

• The Renaissance is studded by the names of the artists and architects, with their creations recorded as great historical events.

  Arthur Erickson

  Artist, Names, Historical

  52 Copy quote