“Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.”
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.
“This is what I wanted. They tell me that London is the best field in history. I wanted to be part of that. Because everyone will be there it will be a wonderful challenge for me. You can see the best runners, how they look, how they run. For me to beat the best is what counts.”
“Study history, study history. In history lies all the secrets of statecraft.”
“I realise that I do not change the course of history. I am an actor, I do a movie, that's the end of it. You have to realise we are just clowns for hire. After I had success it was great, at first, not to worry about money. It was on my mind when I was growing up.”
“Life doesn't just happen it's constructed through the history of power. And that's something I am interested in and so is the art world: a world that's trying to engage socially, with a leftist slant, to work out how we got here.”
“September 11 was terrible but, if one goes back over the history of the IRA, what happened to the Americans wasn't that terrible.”
“I'm inspired by history, different periods.”
“While history never repeats itself, political patterns do.”
“Of course the Republicans have long wanted to privatize Social Security and destroy it. But Social Security has been the most important and valuable social program in the history of the United States.”
“I don't believe in accidents. There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents.”
“When I arrived at Columbia, I gave up acting and became interested in all things French. French poetry, French history, French literature.”
“I don't want to go negative on Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but he didn't pass an economic deal in the first 100 days. We have passed the largest Recovery Act in the history of the country.”
“We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it.”
“You have to be there not for the fame and glory and recognition and being a page in a history book, but you have to be there because you believe your talent and ability can be applied effectively to operation of the spacecraft.”
“What is history but a fable agreed upon?”
“The slightest acquaintance with history shows that powerful republics are the most warlike and unscrupulous of nations.”
“There are times in history where a particular doctrine becomes a symbol of a greater problem.”