Historian

Explore 186 quotes by Historians

A farm is like a man-however great the income, if there is extravagance but little is left.

Cato the Elder

De Agricultura

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Topic

Thrift Money management

Author

Cato the Elder

Source

De Agricultura

Medium

Essay

Statement Type

Metaphor, analogy and simile

Language

Latin

Time

160 BC 160s BC 2nd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Cato the Elder. De Agricultura [On Agriculture]. c. 160 BC, ch. 1, sect. 6.

Current Citation

Cato the Elder. "On Agriculture." Cato and Varro: On Agriculture, translated by W. D. Hooper and H. B. Ash. Harvard University Press, 1934, ch. 1, sect. 6.

Only on the edge of the grave can man conclude anything.

Henry Adams

The Education of Henry Adams

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Topic

Uncertainty The human condition

Author

Henry Adams

Source

The Education of Henry Adams

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1907 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Adams, Henry. The Education of Henry Adams. 1907, ch. 6.

Current Citation

Adams, Henry. "The Education of Henry Adams." Henry Adams: Democracy, Esther, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, The Education of Henry Adams, edited by Ernest Samuels and Jayne Samuels. Library of America, 1983, ch. 6.

The principles of a free constitution are irrecoverably lost, when the legislative power is nominated by the executive.

Edward Gibbon

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

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Topic

Separation of powers Constitutional theory

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

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. 3.

Current Citation

Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-6. Vol. 1. Everyman's Library, 2010, ch. 3.

The history of England is emphatically the history of progress.

Thomas Babington Macaulay

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Topic

England

Author

Thomas Babington Macaulay

Source

Sir James Mackintosh Edinburgh Review

Medium

Essay Magazine

Language

English

Time

1835 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Macaulay, Thomas Babington. "Sir James Mackintosh." Edinburgh Review, July 1835.

Their united reigns are possibly the only period of history in which the happiness of a great people was the sole object of government.

Edward Gibbon

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

On the Roman emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.

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Topic

Good government

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

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. 3.

Current Citation

Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-6. Vol. 1. Everyman's Library, 2010, ch. 3.

The present life of man, O king, seems to me, in comparison of that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the room wherein you sit at supper in winter, with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the midst, whilst the storms of rain and snow prevail ahead; the sparrow, I say, flying in at one door, and immediately out at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry storm; but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight, into the dark winter from which he had emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, or what is to follow, we are utterly ignorant.

Venerable Bede

Ecclesiastical History of the English People

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Topic

Ephemeral nature of life Nature of life

Author

Venerable Bede

Source

Ecclesiastical History of the English People

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Latin

Time

731 730s 8th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Bede. Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum [Ecclesiastical History of the English People]. c. 731, bk. 2, ch. 13.

Current Citation

Bede. "Ecclesiastical History of the English People." The Ecclesiastical History of the English People; The Greater Chronicle; Bede's Letter to Egbert, edited by Judith McClure and Roger Collins. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 2, ch. 13.

Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.

Henry Adams

The Education of Henry Adams

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Topic

Order vs. chaos Chaos Order

Author

Henry Adams

Source

The Education of Henry Adams

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1907 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Adams, Henry. The Education of Henry Adams. 1907, ch. 16.

Current Citation

Adams, Henry. "The Education of Henry Adams." Democracy, Esther, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, The Education of Henry Adams. Library of America, 1983, ch. 16.

No reptiles are found there, and no snake can live there; for, though often carried thither out of Britain, as soon as the ship comes near the shore, and the scent of the air reaches them, they die.

Venerable Bede

Ecclesiastical History of the English People

On Ireland.

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Topic

Ireland

Author

Venerable Bede

Source

Ecclesiastical History of the English People

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Latin

Time

731 730s 8th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Bede. Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum [Ecclesiastical History of the English People]. c. 731, bk. 1, ch. 1.

Current Citation

Bede. "Ecclesiastical History of the English People." The Ecclesiastical History of the English People; The Greater Chronicle; Bede's Letter to Egbert, edited by Judith McClure and Roger Collins. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 1, ch. 1.

Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.

Barbara W. Tuchman

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Topic

Books

Author

Barbara W. Tuchman

Source

The Washington Post

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Tuchman, Barbara. "Papyrus to Paperbacks: The World that Books Made." The Washington Post, 30 Dec. 1979.

Freedom alone substitutes from time to time for the love of material comfort more powerful and more lofty passions; it alone supplies ambition with greater objectives than the acquisition of riches, and creates the light that makes it possible to see and to judge the vices and virtues of mankind.

Alexis de Tocqueville

The Ancien Regime and the Revolution

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Topic

Benefits of freedom Freedom

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.

From this point onwards history becomes an organic whole: the affairs of Italy and Africa are connected with those of Asia and of Greece, and all events bear a relationship and contribute to a single end.

Polybius

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Topic

Globalization Interconnectedness of all people

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. 1.

Current Citation

Polybius. The Histories, translated by W. R. Paton. Vol. 1, Harvard University Press, 2010, bk. 1.

Third parties are like bees. Once they have stung, they die.

Richard Hofstadter

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Topic

Political theory American politics

Author

Richard Hofstadter

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1955 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hofstadter, Richard. The Age of Reform: from Bryan to FDR. Alfred A. Knopf, 1955, pt. 3.

Whether they will or no, Americans must now begin to look outward.

Alfred Thayer Mahan

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Topic

America and the world Internationalism

Author

Alfred Thayer Mahan

Source

The Atlantic

Medium

Magazine

Language

English

Time

1890 1890s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Mahan, Alfred Thayer. "The United States Looking Outward." Atlantic Monthly, Dec. 1890.

No man who is correctly informed as to the past will be disposed to take a morose or desponding view of the present.

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Topic

Past and present The past The present

Author

Thomas Macaulay

Source

The History of England

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1848 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Macaulay, Thomas. The History of England: From the Accession of James II. Vol. 1, Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1848.

Current Citation

Macaulay, Thomas. The History of England from the Accession of James II, 5 Volume Set. The Folio Society, 2009.

The French Revolution operated in reference to this world in exactly the same manner as religious revolutions acted in view of the other world. It considered the citizen as an abstract proposition apart from any particular society, in the same way as religions considered man as man, independent of country and time.

Alexis de Tocqueville

The Ancien Regime and the Revolution

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Topic

French 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, pt. 1, ch. 3.

Current Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. The Ancien Regime and the Revolution, translated by Gerald Bevan. Penguin Classics, 2008, pt. 1, ch. 3.

One of the meanings of human existence, the source of human freedom, is never to accept anything as definitive, untouchable, obvious, or immobile.

Michel Foucault

More information about this quote

Topic

Dogma Doubt and skepticism Freedom

Speaker

Michel Foucault

Source

Power, Moral Values and the Intellectual History of the Present

Medium

Interview

Language

French

Time

1980 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Foucault, Michel. "Power, Moral Values, and the Intellectual." Interviewed and translated by Michael Bess. History of the Present, Spring 1988.

The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord.

Edward Gibbon

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

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Topic

Religious tolerance Religion Roman empire

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. 2.

Current Citation

Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-6. Vol. 1. Everyman's Library, 2010, ch. 2.

She thoroughly understands, what no other Church has ever understood, how to deal with enthusiasts.

Thomas Babington Macaulay

On the Catholic Church.

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Topic

Catholic church

Author

Thomas Babington Macaulay

Source

Von Ranke Edinburgh Review

Medium

Essay Magazine

Language

English

Time

1840 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Macaulay, Thomas Babington. "Von Ranke." Edinburgh Review, Oct. 1840.

The progress of evolution from President Washington to President Grant, was alone evidence enough to upset Darwin.

Henry Adams

The Education of Henry Adams

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Topic

American Presidency American decline

Author

Henry Adams

Source

The Education of Henry Adams

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1907 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Adams, Henry. The Education of Henry Adams. 1907, ch. 17.

Current Citation

Adams, Henry. "The Education of Henry Adams." Henry Adams: Democracy, Esther, Mont Saint Michel and Chartres, The Education of Henry Adams, edited by Ernest Samuels and Jayne Samuels. Library of America, 1983, ch. 17.

The abbreviation of time, and the failure of hope, will always tinge with a browner shade the evening of life.

Edward Gibbon

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Topic

Old age Passage of time Time

Author

Edward Gibbon

Source

Memoirs of My Life and Writings Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1794 1790s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Gibbon, Edward. "Memoirs of My Life and Writings." Miscellaneous Works of Edward Gibbon, edited by John Sheffield. Vol. 1, London: A Strahan and T. Cadell Jun. and W. David, 1796.

Current Citation

Gibbon, Edward. Memoirs of My Life, edited by Betty Radice. Penguin, 1984.