Quotes About History

Vincent Benét's poem The Ballad of William Sycamore.

a child without tradition is a child crippled before the world. Tradition

The idea that the world was flat was never put forth by a seafaring man. It was a tale told to landsmen, or to merchants who might be inclined to compete for markets, for in those days the source of raw material was closely guarded.

All that was long ago, and a mill does not turn upon water that is past, nor does a ship sail with the winds of yesterday.

Old Ed France

next to the Bible more great men had read Plutarch than any other book.

I know only that civilizations seem to be like people. They are born, they grow to maturity, then they age and lose their vitality and they die, only to be born again in later years.

History is best made by men with hands. Brains are well enough, but count for nothing without the hands to build, to bring to fulfilment.

Contrary to general opinion, slave raids from Africa to the coasts of Europe were not uncommon. The raid on the village of Baltimore, a town in West Cork, Ireland, took place in 1631. More than one hundred people were carried away into slavery.

It was born then, this idea that I must have books, not only for our children but for Abigail and myself. We must not lose touch with what we were, with what we had been, nor must we allow the well of our history to dry up, for a child without tradition is a child crippled before the world. Tradition can also be an anchor of stability and a shield to guard one from irresponsibility and hasty decision.

Read the Bible. There'd been whites held as slaves for several thousand years before the blacks were enslaved.

The Egyptians had Hebrew slaves as well as others. The Romans had Greek slaves as well as slaves from England and Gaul.

You must not judge too quickly, he said quietly. Each man deserves to be judged against the canvas of his time and his country.

On the contrary: she thought that the conditions that had made Hitler possible were still present, and that the West needed to be reborn. The European tradition had destroyed itself. "The whole of nearly three thousand years of Western civilization with all its implied beliefs, traditions, and standards of judgment has come toppling down over our heads," she wrote.47

These are the facts: The Walker boat smashed into Sam's boat. Sam was shot and killed in the water. Katherine Barlow was rescued against her wishes. When they returned to the shore, she saw Mary Lou's body lying on the ground. The donkey had been shot in the head. That all happened one hundred and ten years ago. Since then, not one drop of rain has fallen on Green Lake. You make the decision: Whom did God punish?

Sam wasn't allowed to attend classes because he was a Negro

There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. There once was a very large lake here, the largest

Christopher Columbus's favorite vegetable?" asked the lunch lady. Deedee knew that one. "Cabbage!

Well, let me tell you something, Caveman. You are here on account of one person. If it wasn't for that person, you wouldn't be here digging holes in the hot sun. You know who that person is?" "My no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather.

These wars have been so great, they are forgotten Like the Egyptian dynasts. My confrere In whose thick boots I stood, were you amazed To wander through my brain four decades later As I have wandered in a dream through yours? The violence of waking life disrupts The order of our death. Strange dreams occur, For dreams are licensed as they never were.

Myth is history in a masquerade costume. Peel away the fantastical facade, and you will always find a core of truth. Adrien Morel

Poor dull Concord. Nothing colorful has come through here since the Redcoats.

though the antique Luxembourg Gardens suit me better.

The contents of a house can trigger all sorts of revisions to family history.