Vainglory, however, no matter how much medieval Christianity insisted it was a sin, is a motor of mankind, no more eradicable than sex.
BARBARA TUCHMANIn the search for meaning we must not forget that the gods (or God, for that matter) are a concept of the human mind; they are the creatures of man, not vice versa. They are needed and invented to give meaning and purpose to the struggle that is life on Earth.
More Barbara Tuchman Quotes
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A phenomenon noticeable throughout history regardless of place or period is the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests.
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Strong prejudices in an ill-formed mind are hazardous to government, and when combined with a position of power even more so.
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The story and study of the past, both recent and distant, will not reveal the future, but it flashes beacon lights along the way and it is a useful nostrum against despair.
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An essential element for good writing is a good ear: One must listen to the sound of one’s own prose.
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The conduct of war was so much more interesting than its prevention.
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Reasonable orders are easy enough to obey; it is capricious, bureaucratic or plain idiotic demands that form the habit of discipline.
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Books are the carriers of civilization… Books are humanity in print.
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Honor wears different coats to different eyes.
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For me, the card catalog has been a companion all my working life. To leave it is like leaving the house one was brought up in.
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No more distressing moment can ever face a British government than that which requires it to come to a hard, fast and specific decision.
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No female iniquity was more severely condemned than the habit of plucking eyebrows and the hairline to heighten the forehead.
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Modern historians have suggested that in his last years he (Richard II) was overtaken by mental disease, but that is only a modern view of the malfunction common to 14th century rulers: inability to inhibit impulse.
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The unrecorded past is none other than our old friend, the tree in the primeval forest which fell without being heard
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The fact of being reported increases the apparent extent of a deplorable development by a factor of ten.
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To gain victory over the flesh was the purpose of fasting and celibacy, which denied the pleasures of this world for the sake of reward in the next.
BARBARA TUCHMAN