People who make history know nothing about history. You can see that in the sort of history they make.
Gilbert K. ChestertonI happen to be a big fan of Western civilization; I think it beats the hell out of tyranny and starvation.
Jordan PetersonThe governments of the present day have to deal not merely with other governments, with emperors, kings and ministers, but also with the secret societies which have everywhere their unscrupulous agents, and can at the last moment upset all the governments‘ plans.
Benjamin DisraeliI cannot swallow whole the view of Lincoln as the Great Emancipator.
Barack ObamaIn remembering the appalling suffering of war on both sides, we recognise how precious is the peace we have built in Europe since 1945.
Queen Elizabeth IIThe hippie movement politicized my generation. When it ended, we all started looking back at our own history, looking, in my case, for motives of rebellion.
Vivienne WestwoodNixon was no more a saint than he was a great president.
Hunter S. ThompsonRead about history, and you become aware that nothing starts with us.
Jim MattisI’ve known and continue to know every one of these major world leaders by their first names, and I have access to them.
Joe BidenPoetry is nearer to vital truth than history.
PlatoAt United, there are great traditions, which you can’t buy in one or two years. They are created by victories. You need to prove again and again that you are better than the others. Manchester United have always done this, and are still doing it, so they are the best.
Cristiano RonaldoForeigners don’t want to invest any more in France – and this is not working.
Karl LagerfeldI don’t know which will go first – rock ‚n‘ roll or Christianity.
John LennonThe idea that putting Americans ‚first‘ requires a withdrawal from the world is simply wrongheaded because a retreat would achieve exactly the opposite for our citizens.
Colin PowellHistory is present in all my novels. And whether I am directly talking about the sociological moment or just immersing my character in the environment, I am very aware of it.
Paul AusterI have written too much history to have faith in it; and if anyone thinks I’m wrong, I am inclined to agree with him.
Henry AdamsReturning to your family and where you came from, and your history… this is what makes you strong. It’s not looking out that’s going to do that – it’s looking in.
Lady GagaThe U.S.S.R. had absolutely nothing to do with the triumph of the Cuban Revolution.
Fidel CastroA kingdom founded on injustice never lasts.
Lucius Annaeus SenecaMan has the power to act as his own destroyer – and that is the way he has acted through most of his history.
Elon MuskIt is rather for us here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.
Abraham LincolnI went to the museum where they had all the heads and arms from the statues that are in all the other museums.
Steven WrightI like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
Thomas JeffersonUnder the Timber and Stone Act of 1878, which might well have been called the ‚Dust and Ashes Act,‘ any citizen of the United States could take up one hundred and sixty acres of timber land and, by paying two dollars and a half an acre for it, obtain title.
John MuirIndeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes.
VoltaireWell, Apple invented the PC as we know it, and then it invented the graphical user interface as we know it eight years later (with the introduction of the Mac). But then, the company had a decade in which it took a nap.
Steve JobsPutin goes to bed at night knowing he can break all the rules, and the West will follow all the rules.
Jim MattisBritain kept its position as the dominant world power well into the 20th century despite steady decline. By the end of World War II, dominance had shifted decisively into the hands of the upstart across the sea, the United States, by far the most powerful and wealthy society in world history.
Noam ChomskyWe can not play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent.
Ronald ReaganIt makes sense for Japan to pursue a more independent role in the world, following Latin America and others in freeing itself from U.S. domination.
Noam ChomskyThe attitude of the West and of Russia towards a crisis like Ukraine is diametrically different. The West is trying to establish the legality of any established border. For Russia, Ukraine is part of the Russian patrimony.
Henry KissingerNATO was constructed on the – with the reason, whether one believes it or not, that it was going to defend Western Europe from Russian assault. Once the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union was beginning to collapse, that reason was gone. So, first question: why does NATO exist?
Noam ChomskyUnconditional war can no longer lead to unconditional victory. It can no longer serve to settle disputes… can no longer be of concern to great powers alone.
John F. KennedyIf there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America.
Nelson MandelaIn America, there’s a failure to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world.
Barack ObamaThe people of Egypt are an intelligent people with a glorious history who left their mark on civilization.
Fidel CastroI’m doing more of my U.N. work and doing the African Union Summit and things like that.
Angelina JolieFor 500 years, since European explorers came, Latin American countries had been separated from one another. They had very limited relations. Integration is a prerequisite for independence.
Noam ChomskyI don’t think we handled the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad as well as we might have. But that’s now history.
Colin PowellI’m glad I’m not Brezhnev. Being the Russian leader in the Kremlin. You never know if someone’s tape recording what you say.
Richard M. NixonIt is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man.
Henry David ThoreauFrom the beginning, Mandela and Tambo was besieged with clients. We were not the only African lawyers in South Africa, but we were the only firm of African lawyers. For Africans, we were the firm of first choice and last resort.
Nelson MandelaIf you want to find the source of much of the music of modern day Russia, you will find it in the incredible compositions of that crazed lunatic Berlioz.
Ray BradburyThat men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.
Aldous HuxleyIn the first book of my Discworld series, published more than 26 years ago, I introduced Death as a character; there was nothing particularly new about this – death has featured in art and literature since medieval times, and for centuries we have had a fascination with the Grim Reaper.
Terry PratchettHistory is a set of lies agreed upon.
Napoleon BonaparteThe idea that women were oppressed throughout history is an appalling theory.
Jordan PetersonMen make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.
Harry S. TrumanThe average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history has been about 200 years.
Robert KiyosakiI’ve got nothing against records – I’ve spent my life making them – but they are a kind of historical blip.
Brian EnoColonies do not cease to be colonies because they are independent.
Benjamin DisraeliNothing has really happened until it has been recorded.
Virginia WoolfThe former colonies, in Latin America in particular, have a better chance than ever before to overcome centuries of subjugation, violence and foreign intervention, which they have so far survived as dependencies with islands of luxury in a sea of misery.
Noam ChomskyThere is obviously a gap between the public’s perception of the role of U.S. foreign policy and the elite’s perception.
Henry KissingerIn war there is no substitute for victory.
Douglas MacArthurHistory isn’t just the story of bad people doing bad things. It’s quite as much a story of people trying to do good things. But somehow, something goes wrong.
C. S. LewisThe Chinese government wants me to say that for many centuries Tibet has been part of China. Even if I make that statement, many people would just laugh. And my statement will not change past history. History is history.
Dalai LamaTake it from someone who fled the Iron Curtain: I know what happens when you give the Russians a green light.
Madeleine AlbrightI think with the Romans, that the general of today should be a soldier tomorrow if necessary.
Thomas JeffersonYou think the world was shocked when Nixon resigned? Wait till I whup George Foreman’s behind.
Muhammad Ali