Historian Quotes

In government as well as in trade a new era came to the colonies in 1763.

In each colony in 1750 were to be found two sets of governing organizations, - the local and the general.

In comparison with other men of their time, the Americans were distinguished by the possession of new political and social ideas, which were destined to be the foundation of the American commonwealth.

In appearance the labor system of all the colonies was the same.

In any event, colonization and the grant of lands were provincial matters.

In 1763 the English were the most powerful nation in the world.

From William of Orange to William Pitt the younger there was but one man without whom English history must have taken a different turn, and that was William Pitt the elder.

Few characters in history are indispensable.

Everywhere among the English-speaking race criminal justice was rude, and punishments were barbarous; but the tendency was to do away with special privileges and legal exemptions.

England and France were rivals, not only on the continent, but in the West Indies, in India, and in Europe.

Each colony became accustomed to planting new settlements and to claiming new boundaries.

Besides paid white laborers, there was everywhere a class of white servants bound without wages for a term of years, and a more miserable class of Negro slaves.

As often happens during a war, some parts of the country prospered, notwithstanding the constant loss.

Many attempts had been made by colonial legislatures to cut off or to tax the importation of slaves.

War seems to come out of nowhere, like rust that suddenly pops up on iron after a storm.

This bloody past suggests to us that enemies cease hostilities only when they are battered enough to acknowledge that there is no hope in victory - and thus that further resistance means only useless sacrifice.

The gradual decline of a society is often a self-induced process of trying to meet ever-expanding appetites, rather than a physical inability to produce past levels of food and fuel, or to maintain adequate defense.

The fact is, beneath the hype, Iraqis will soon appreciate American help and idealism far more than French perfidy. It is never wrong to be on the side of freedom - never.

States are like people. They do not question the awful status quo until some dramatic event overturns the conventional and lax way of thinking.

Popular culture is simply a reflection of what the majority seems to want.

Often, the pretexts for starting a war are not real shortages of land, food or fuel, but rather perceptions - like fear, honor and perceived self-interest.

In history, one gathers clues like a detective, tries to present an honest account of what most likely happened, and writes a narrative according to what we know and, where we aren't absolutely sure, what might be most likely to have happened, within the generally accepted rules of evidence and sour

History has shown that a government's redistribution of shrinking wealth, in preference to a private sector's creation of new sources of it, can prove more destructive than even the most deadly enemy.

Even in its third century, America is still the most meritocratic nation in the world.

Any time the Western way of war can be unleashed on an enemy stupid enough to enter its arena, victory is assured.

Americans spend more money on Botox, face lifts and tummy tucks than on the age-old scourges of polio, small pox and malaria.

A manufacturing district... sends out, as it were, suckers into all its neighbourhood.

The more business one has, the more you are able to accomplish, for you learn to economize your time.

Christianity is part of the Common Law of England.

The vanity of loving fine clothes and new fashion, and placing value on ourselves by them is one of the most childish pieces of folly.