Historian

Explore 186 quotes by Historians

In a dying culture, narcissism appears to embody-in the guise of personal "growth" and "awareness"-the highest attainment of spiritual enlightenment. The custodians of culture hope, at bottom, merely to survive its collapse.

Christopher Lasch

The Culture of Narcissism

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Topic

Decadence Personal growth

Author

Christopher Lasch

Source

The Culture of Narcissism

Genre

Sociology

Language

English

Time

1979 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lasch, Christopher. The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations. W. W. Norton & Company, 1979, ch. 10.

We are a facing a mood and a movement far transcending the level of issues and policies and the governments that pursue them. This is no less than a clash of civilization-the perhaps irrational but surely historic reaction of an ancient rival against our Judeo-Christian heritage, our secular preseent, and the worldwide expansion of both.

Bernard Lewis

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Topic

Clash of civilizations Islam

Author

Bernard Lewis

Source

The Roots of Muslim Rage

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1990 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lewis, Bernard. "The Roots of Muslim Rage." The Atlantic Monthly, Sept. 1990.

Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Democracy in America

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Topic

Morality and politics Freedom Morality Religion

Author

Alexis de Tocqueville

Source

Democracy in America

Genre

Political literature

Language

French

Time

1835 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. De La Democratie en Amerique [Democracy in America]. Vol. 1, London: Saunders and Otley, 1835, introduction.

Current Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II, translated by Henry Reeve. Bantam Classics, 2000, vol. 1, introduction.

The very spring and root of honesty and virtue lie in good education.

Plutarch

Moralia

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Topic

Education

Author

Plutarch

Source

On the Educaiton of Children Moralia

Medium

Essay

Language

Italian/Latin

Time

100 100s 1st century

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Plutarch. "Περὶ παίδων ἀγωγῆς [On the Education of Children]." Ἠθικά Ethika [Moralia]. c. 100 AD.

In truth, prosperity tries the souls even of the wise.

Sallust

The War of Catiline

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Topic

Downsides of wealth Tests of character

Author

Sallust

Source

The War of Catiline

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Latin

Time

42 BC 40s BC 1st century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Sallust. Bellum Catilinae [War of Catiline]. c. 43–40 BC.

Current Citation

Sallust. "The War with Catiline." The War with Catiline and The War with Jugurtha, translated by John T. Ramsey J. C. Rolfe. Harvard University Press, 2013.

Great is the glory of the woman who occasions the least talk among men, whether of praise or of blame.

Thucydides

History of the Peloponnesian War

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Topic

Discreet women Patriarchy

Author

Thucydides

Source

History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

404 BC 400s 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.

The absence of romance in my history will, I fear, detract somewhat from its interest.

Thucydides

History of the Peloponnesian War

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Topic

Love stories History

Author

Thucydides

Source

History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

404 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 1.

When life is so burdensome, death has become of man a sought-after refuge.

Herodotus

Histories

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Topic

Death as a blessing Over it

Speaker

Artabanus

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. Histories. c. 430 BC, bk. 7.

Current Citation

Herodotus. The Histories, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 7.

The great wish of some is to avenge themselves on some particular enemy, the great wish of others to save their own pocket. Slow in assembling, they devote a very small fraction of the time to the consideration of any public object, most of it to the prosecution of their own objects. Meanwhile each fancies that no harm will come of his neglect, that it is the business of somebody else to look after this or that for him; and so, by the same notion being entertained by all separately, the common cause imperceptibly decays.

Thucydides

History of the Peloponnesian War

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Topic

Collective action problem

Author

Thucydides

Source

History of the Peloponnesian War

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

404 BC 400s BC 5th century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Thucydides. The History of the Peloponnesian War. c. 431 BC, bk. 1.

Current Citation

Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War, translated by Martin Hammond. Oxford University Press, 2009, bk. 1.

Persuasion is the resource of the feeble; and the feeble can seldom persuade.

Edward Gibbon

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

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Topic

Persuasion Power dynamics Powerlessness

Author

Edward Gibbon

Source

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Genre

Historical literature

Language

English

Time

1789 1780s 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. 6, London: Strahan & Cadell, 1789, ch. 68.

Current Citation

Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-6. Vol. 6. Everyman's Library, 2010, ch. 68.

If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.

Herodotus

Histories

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Topic

Taking it easy Having fun Being uptight

Speaker

Amasis

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. 2, ch. 173.

Current Citation

Herodotus. The Histories, translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 2008, bk. 2, ch. 173.

If history records good things of good men, the thoughtful hearer is encouraged to imitate what is good.

Venerable Bede

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Topic

Learning from the past The past History

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, preface.

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, preface.

Though bitter, good medicine cures illness. Though it may hurt, loyal criticism will have beneficial effects.

Sima Qian

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Topic

Openness to criticism Criticism Personal growth

Author

Sima Qian

Source

Records of the Grand Historian

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Chinese

Time

109 BC 100s BC 2nd century BC

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Suma Quin. Written sometime around c. 110 BC.

Current Citation

Suma Qian. Records of the Grand Historian of China, translated by Burton Watson. Vol. 2, Columbia University Press, 1961, ch. 118.

We have heard it said that five per cent is the natural interest of money.

Thomas Babington Macaulay

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Topic

Finance Money

Author

Thomas Babington Macaulay

Source

Southey's Colloquies Edinburgh Review

Medium

Essay Magazine

Language

English

Time

1830 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Macaulay, Thomas Babington. "Southey's Colloquies." Edinburgh Review, Jan. 1830.

The soul is the effect and instrument of a political anatomy; the soul is the prison of the body.

Michel Foucault

Discipline and Punish

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Topic

Body and soul The soul

Author

Michel Foucault

Source

Discipline and Punish

Genre

Historical literature Philosophical literature

Language

French

Time

1975 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Foucault, Michel. Surveiller et punir: Naissance de la prison [Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison]. Gallimard, 1975.

It is not reasonable that he who does not shoot should hit the mark, nor that he who does not stand fast at his post should win the day, or that the helpless man should succeed or the coward prosper.

Plutarch

Plutarch's Lives

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Topic

Taking action

Author

Plutarch

Source

Aemilius Plutarch's Lives

Genre

Biography Historical literature

Language

Greek

Time

2nd century

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.

Man is a child of the customs and the things he has become used to. He is not the product of his natural disposition and temperment. The conditions to which he has become accustomed, until they have become for him a quality of character and matters of habit and custom, have replaced his natural disposition.

Ibn Khaldun

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Topic

Custom and convention

Author

Ibn Khaldun

Source

The Muqaddimah

Language

Arabic

Time

1377 1370s 14th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Khaldun, Ibn. مقدّمة ابن خلدون [The Muqaddimah]. 1377, bk. 1, ch. 2, sect. 5.

The effect of power and publicity on all men is the aggravation of self, a sort of tumor that ends by killing the victim's sympathies.

Henry Adams

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Topic

Effects of power Effects of fame Power Fame

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. 10.

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. 10.

Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of inert facts.

Henry Adams

The Education of Henry Adams

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Topic

Downsides of education Education

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. 25.

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. 25.

Light (God's eldest daughter), is a principal beauty in a building.

Thomas Fuller (churchman)

The Holy State and the Profane State

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Topic

Light Architecture

Author

Thomas Fuller (churchman)

Source

The Holy State and the Profane State

Medium

Essay

Genre

Travel writing

Language

English

Time

1642 1640s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Fuller, Thomas. The Holy State and the Profane State. Cambridge: John Williams, 1642, bk. 3, ch. 7.