Historical quotes

Historical

1.1K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.

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Historical quotes (page 9 of 57)

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Fred Allen Comedian, Actor
Historical

"We are living in the machine age. For the first time in history the comedian has been compelled to supply himself with jokes and comedy material to compete with the machine. Whether he knows it or not, the comedian is on a treadmill to oblivion."

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Joseph Campbell Mythologist, Writer, Lecturer
Historical

"The importance of the End of time is as ... a psychological event ... When you have seen the radiance of eternity through all the forms of time ... and it is the function of art to make that visible to you ... then you have really have ended life in the world as it is lived by those who only think only in the historical, concretizing terms. This is the function of mythology."

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John Adams Founding Father, Politician
Historical

"I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved - the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced!"

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Bertrand Russell Philosopher, Mathematician
Historical

"All the important human advances that we know of since historical times began have been due to individuals of whom the majority faced virulent public opposition."

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Vaclav Havel Politician, Playwright
Historical

"Life cannot be destroyed for good, neithercan history be brought entirely to a halt. A secret streamlet trickles on beneath the heavy lid of inertia and pseudo-events, slowly and inconspicuously undercutting it. It may be a long process, but one day it must happen: the lid will no longer hold and will start to crack. This is the moment when something once more begins visibly to happen, something truly new and uniquesomething truly historical, in the sense that history again demands to be heard."

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Terence McKenna Ethnobotanist, Philosopher, Writer
Historical

"This is what I believe: That we are not pushed from behind by the casual unfolding of historical necessity, but that we are in the grip of an attractor of some sort, which lies ahead of us in time."

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Tom Robbins Novelist, Essayist
Historical

"Much more than an entertaining set of exaggerated facts, fiction is a metaphoric method of describing, dramatizing and condensing historical events, personal actions, psychological states and the symbolic knowledge encoded within the collective unconscious; things, events and conditions that are otherwise too diffuse and/or complex to be completely digested or appreciated by the prevailing culture."

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Historical

"Historical research to this day remains unorganized, and the historian is expected to make his own instruments or do without them; and so with wooden ploughs we continue to draw lonely furrows, most successfully when we strike sand."

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