“It is not history which uses men as a means of achieving - as if it were an individual person - its own ends. History is nothing but the activity of men in pursuit of their ends.”
History is not just names and dates — it is the story of how we got here and a warning about where we might be headed. These quotes look at the past with curiosity, respect, and the awareness that those who ignore it tend to repeat it.
“I loved history because to me, history was like watching a movie.”
“It is not history which uses men as a means of achieving - as if it were an individual person - its own ends. History is nothing but the activity of men in pursuit of their ends.”
“The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice their choice!”
“War had always seemed to me to be a purely human behavior. Accounts of warlike behavior date back to the very first written records of human history it seemed to be an almost universal characteristic of human groups.”
“Billions of people have seen and been influenced by movies in the short history of this industry.”
“So many people of color who made major contributions to American history have been trapped in the purgatory of history.”
“The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century.”
“Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.”
“History keeps her secrets longer than most of us. But she has one secret that I will reveal to you tonight in the greatest confidence. Sometimes there are no winners at all. And sometimes nobody needs to lose.”
“With the perspective afforded by the passage of time, where does 9/11 rank as a turning point in our national history? For the victims and their families, innocents going about their lives, suddenly and brutally murdered, no other day can ever matter as much.”
“Barack Obama is one of the greatest politicians in American history.”
“History is more or less bunk.”
“Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.”
“The history of liberty is a history of resistance.”
“Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.”
“The audiences are there as a result of my history with the band but also as a result of my being able to reach people with a tune.”