The subject of history is the life of peoples and of humanity. To catch and pin down in words-that is, to describe directly the life, not only of humanity, but even of a single people, appears to be impossible.

Предмет истории есть жизнь народов и человечества. Непосредственно уловить и обнять словом - описать жизнь не только человечества, но одного народа, - представляется невозможным.

Leo Tolstoy

War and Peace

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More information about this quote

Topic

History

Author

Leo Tolstoy

Source

War and Peace

Medium

Novel

Language

Russian

Time

1869 1860s 19th century

Occupation

Novelist Writer

From

Russia Europe

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. "Война и миръ [War and Peace]." The Russian Messenger, 1865-1867. Serial.

Current Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. War and Peace, translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude. Oxford University Press, 2010.

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A quote by Leo Tolstoy about history: “The subject of history is the life of peoples and of humanity. To catch…”
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A quote by Leo Tolstoy about history: “The subject of history is the life of peoples and of humanity. To catch…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote by Leo Tolstoy

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina

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More information about this quote
Topic
Family dysfunction Family Parents and children

Author

Leo Tolstoy
Source
Anna Karenina
Medium
Novel
Language
Russian
Time
1877 1870s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. Анна Каренина [Anna Karenina]. The Russian Messenger, 1875-1877. Serial.

Current Citation

Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Penguin Classics, 2014.

Another quote from the 1860s

It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.

Abraham Lincoln

Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln

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More information about this quote
Topic
Slavery American Civil War American politics
Speaker
Abraham Lincoln
Source
Second Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln Presidential inaugural address
Medium
Speech
Genre
Political speech
Language
English
Time
1865 1860s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Original Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1865, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Current Citation

Lincoln, Abraham. "Second Inaugral Address, March 4, 1865." Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1859-1865, edited by Don E. Fehrenbacher. Library of America, 2018.

Another quote about History

Who built the Thebes of the seven gates?
In the books you will find the names of kings.
Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock?...
Where, the evening that the wall of China was finished
Did the masons go?

Bertolt Brecht

Questions from a Worker Who Reads

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More information about this quote
Topic
Great man theory of history Seven wonders of the world Workers History

Author

Bertolt Brecht
Source
Questions from a Worker Who Reads
Medium
Poem
Genre
Political literature
Statement Type
Question
Language
German
Time
1936 1930s 20th century
Authentication Score 2
Citation

Brecht, Bertolt. "Fragen eines lesenden Arbeiters [Questions of a Reading Worker]." Das Wort, 1936.

Another quote originally in Russian

If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

The Gulag Archipelago

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More information about this quote
Topic
Duality of man Good and evil

Author

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Source
The Gulag Archipelago
Genre
Political literature Historical literature
Language
Russian
Time
1973 1970s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr. Архипелаг ГУЛАГ, Arkhipelag GULAG [The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation]. Vol. 1, YMCA-Press, 1973.