Historical literature

Explore 186 quotes from the following genre: Historical literature

Not snow, no, nor rain, nor heat, nor night keeps them from accomplishing their appointed courses with all speed.

Herodotus

Histories

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Topic

Overcoming obstacles

Author

Herodotus

Source

Histories

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Herodotus. Ἱστορίαι [Histories]. c. 430 BC, bk. 8, ch. 98.

Current Citation

Herodotus. The Histories, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 8, ch. 98.

Our love of what is beautiful does not lead to extravagance; our love of the things of the mind does not make us soft.

Pericles

Quoted in Funeral Oration, by Thucydides

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Topic

Athens

Speaker

Pericles

Author

Thucydides

Source

Funeral Oration History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pericles. Quoted in The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Pericles. Quoted in The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2.

A Roman divorced from his wife, being highly blamed by his friends, who demanded, "Was she not chaste? Was she not fair? Was she not fruitful? Holding out his shoe, asked them whether it was not new and well made. "Yet," added he, "none of you can tell where it pinches me."

Plutarch

Plutarch's Lives

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Topic

Challenges of marriage Marriage

Author

Plutarch

Source

Plutarch's Lives

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

119 110s 2nd century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Plutarch. "Aemilius Paulus." Βίοι Παράλληλοι [Parallel Lives]. c. 2nd century.

Current Citation

Plutarch. "Aemilius." Roman Lives: A Selection of Eight Roman Lives, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Those who know how to win are much more numerous than those who know how to make proper use of their victories.

Polybius

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Topic

Winning Lack of wisdom

Author

Polybius

Source

Histories (Polybius)

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

117 BC 110s BC 2nd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Polybius. Ἱστορίαι [Histories]. c. 110 BC, bk. 10.

Current Citation

Polybius. The Histories, translated by W. R. Paton. Vol. 4, Loeb Classical Library, 1992, bk. 10.

To like and dislike the same things, that is indeed true friendship.

Catiline

Quoted in The War of Catiline, by Sallust

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Topic

Nature of friendship Friendship

Speaker

Catiline

Author

Sallust

Source

The War of Catiline

Genre

Historical literature Political literature

Language

Latin

Time

50 BC 50s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Catiline. Quoted in Bellum Catilinae [War of Catiline], written by Sallust. c. 44 BC.

Current Citation

Catiline. Quoted in "Cataline's Conspiracy." Cataline's Conspiracy, The Jugurthine War, Histories, written by Sallust and translated by William W. Batstone. Oxford University Press, 2010.

Everyone ought to worship God according to his own inclinations, and not to be constrained by force.

Flavius Josephus

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Topic

Freedom of religion

Author

Flavius Josephus

Genre

Historical literature

Statement Type

Precepts and axioms

Language

Greek

Time

99 90s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Josephus. Ἰωσήπου βίος [The Life of Flavius Josephus]. c. 99.

Current Citation

Josephus. "The Life of Flavius Josephus." The New Complete Works of Josephus. Kregel Academic & Professional, 1999.

There is no witness so dreadful, no accuser so terrible, as the conscience that dwells in the heart of every man.

Polybius

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Topic

Conscience Self-criticism Self-hatred

Author

Polybius

Source

Histories (Polybius)

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

118 BC 110s BC 2nd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Polybius. Ἱστορίαι [Histories]. c. 110 BC, bk. 18.

Current Citation

Polybius. The Histories, translated by W. R. Paton. Vol. 5, Harvard University Press, 2012, bk. 18.

Your great glory is not to be inferior to what God has made you, and the greatest glory of a woman is to be least talked about by men, whether they are praising you or criticizing you.

Pericles

Quoted in Funeral Oration, by Thucydides

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Topic

Patriarchy Oppression of women

Speaker

Pericles

Author

Thucydides

Source

Funeral Oration History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pericles. Quoted in The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Pericles. Quoted in The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2.

Economic progress, in capitalist society, means turmoil.

Joseph Schumpeter

Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy

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Topic

Economic growth Life under capitalism Capitalism

Author

Joseph Schumpeter

Source

Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy

Genre

Economic literature Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1942 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Schumpeter, Joseph Alois. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. Harper & Brothers, 1942, pt. 1, ch. 3.

Dead battles, like dead generals, hold the military mind in their dead grip, and Germans, no less than other peoples, prepare for the last war.

Barbara W. Tuchman

The Guns of August

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Topic

Preparing for war War

Author

Barbara W. Tuchman

Source

The Guns of August

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Tuchman, Barbara W. The Guns of August. Macmillan, 1962, ch. 2.

There was no one who wept for any death, for all awaited death.

Agnolo di Tura del Grosso

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Topic

The Black Death Plagues Pandemics

Author

Agnolo di Tura del Grosso

Source

Cronica Maggiore

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Italian

Time

14th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Di Tura del Grosso, Agnolo. Cronica Maggiore. c. 1350.

Current Citation

Di Tura del Grosso, Agnolo. "Cronica Maggiore." Quoted in The Black Death: A Turning Point in History?, written by William M. Bowsky. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1971.

If one were to order all mankind to choose the best set of rules in the world, each group would, after due consideration, choose its own customs; each group regards its own as being by far the best.

Herodotus

Histories

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Topic

Ethnocentrism Human nature

Author

Herodotus

Source

Histories

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Herodotus. Ἱστορίαι [Histories]. c. 430 BC, bk. 3, sect. 38.

Current Citation

Herodotus. The Histories, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 3, sect. 38.

Whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way to the common feelings of mankind.

Edward Gibbon

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

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Topic

Legal theory Moral theory Law

Author

Edward Gibbon

Source

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Vol. 1, London: Strahan & Cadell, 1776, ch. 14.

Current Citation

Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-6. Vol. 1. Everyman's Library, 2010, ch. 14.

But the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it.

Pericles

Quoted in Funeral Oration, by Thucydides

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Topic

Bravery Courage Taking risks Going for it

Speaker

Pericles

Author

Thucydides

Source

Funeral Oration History of the Peloponnesian War

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2.

Our constitution is named a democracy, because it is in the hands not of the few but of the many. But our laws secure equal justice for all in their private disputes, and our public opinion welcomes and honors talent in every branch of achievement, not for any sectional reason but on grounds of excellence alone. And as we give free play to all in our public life, so we care the same spirit into our daily relations with one another... Open and friendly in our private intercourse, in our public acts we keep strictly within the control of law. We acknowledge the restraint of authority, and to the laws, more especially to those which offer protection to the oppressed and those unwritten ordinances whose transgression brings admitted shame.

Pericles

Quoted in Funeral Oration, by Thucydides

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Topic

Democracy Rule of law

Speaker

Pericles

Author

Thucydides

Source

Funeral Oration History of the Peloponnesian War

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2.

Fix your eyes on the greatness of Athens as you have it before you day by day, fall in love with her, and when you feel her great, remember that this greatness was won by men with courage, with knowledge of their duty, and with a sense of honor in action... So they gave their bodies to the commonwealth and received each for his own memory, praise that will never die, and with it the grandest of all memorials, not that in which their mortal bones are laid, but a home in the minds of men, where their glory remains fresh to stir to speech or action as the occasion comes fresh to stir to speech or action as the occasion comes by. For the whole earth is the memorial of famous men; and their story is not graven only on stone over their native earth, but lives on far away, without visible symbol, woven into the stuff of other men's lives.

Pericles

Quoted in Funeral Oration, by Thucydides

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Topic

Great men Heroes Dying for one's country

Speaker

Pericles

Author

Thucydides

Source

Funeral Oration History of the Peloponnesian War

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

430 BC 430s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 2.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2.

Vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave.

Edward Gibbon

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

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Topic

Fortune Randomness

Author

Edward Gibbon

Source

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1789 1780s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Gibbon, Edward. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Vol. 6, London: Strahan & Cadell, 1789, ch. 71.

Current Citation

Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-6. Vol. 6. Everyman's Library, 2010, ch. 71.

If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.

Winston Churchill

The Second World War

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Topic

My enemy's enemy Hitler Hell The devil

Author

Winston Churchill

Source

The Second World War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1950 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Churchill, Winston. Note to his personal secretary John Colville. 21 June 1941.

Despots themselves do not deny that freedom is excellent; only they desire it for themselves alone, and they maintain that everyone else is altogether unworthy of it.

Alexis de Tocqueville

The Ancien Regime and the Revolution

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Topic

Freedom Political hypocrisy Tyranny

Author

Alexis de Tocqueville

Source

The Ancien Regime and the Revolution

Genre

Historical literature Political literature

Language

French

Time

1856 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution [The Ancien Régime and the Revolution]. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1856, foreward.

Current Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. The Ancien Regime and the Revolution, translated by Gerald Bevan. Penguin Classics, 2008, foreward.

It is not always by going from bad to worse that a society falls into revolution... The social order destroyed by a revolution is almost always better than that which immediately preceded it, and experience shows that the most dangerous moment for a bad government is generally that in which it sets about reform.

Alexis de Tocqueville

The Ancien Regime and the Revolution

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Topic

Conditions for revolution

Author

Alexis de Tocqueville

Source

The Ancien Regime and the Revolution

Genre

Historical literature Political literature

Language

French

Time

1856 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution [The Ancien Régime and the Revolution]. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1856, bk. 3, ch. 4.

Current Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. The Ancien Regime and the Revolution, translated by Gerald Bevan. Penguin Classics, 2008, bk. 3, ch. 4.