A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic a mere working mason if he possesses some knowledge of these he may venture to call himself an architect.

Of all the species of literary composition perhaps biography is the most delightful. The attention concentrated on one individual gives a unity to the materials of which it is composed which is wanting in general history.

Every literary critic believes he will outwit history and have the last word.

The greatest honor history can bestow is that of peacemaker.

I think documentaries are the greatest way to educate an entire generation that doesn't often look back to learn anything about the history that provided a safe haven for so many of us today.

Imagination is always the fabric of social life and the dynamic of history. The influence of real needs and compulsions of real interests and materials is indirect because the crowd is never conscious of it.

The only history is a mere question of one's struggle inside oneself. But that is the joy of it. One need neither discover Americas nor conquer nations and yet one has as great a work as Columbus or Alexander to do.

Now there are some who would like to rewrite history - revisionist historians is what I like to call them.

One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say.

Presidents quickly realize that while a single act might destroy the world they live in no one single decision can make life suddenly better or can turn history around for the good.