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I believe that the supreme duty of the historian is to write history, that is to say, to attempt to record in one sweeping sequence the greater events and movements that have swayed the destinies of man.
--
A History of the Crusades (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, [1951-54] 1957) vol. 3 p. xiii.

 

Steven Runciman

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I know well enough, from my own experience, the historical ebb and flow. They are governed by their own laws. Mere impatience will not expedite their change. I have grown accustomed to viewing the historical perspective not from the stand point of my personal fate. To understand the causal sequence of events and to find somewhere in the sequence one's own place – that is the first duty of a revolutionary. And at the same time, it is the greatest personal satisfaction possible for a man who does not limit his tasks to the present day.

 

Leon Trotsky

 

I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.

 

Jesus Christ

 

"I'm glad for (the ability for people to buy a song without needing to buy the whole album), where an artist can't write a bad record. You can't write one hit song and nine bad ones and pawn a record off to people. Now they can download or buy one track at a time. Every song you write has to count. For me artistically, that's the way I always approach it. I don't put anything out on a record or release it to the public if I think it's crap."

 

Klayton

 

"Describe worrying," he went on.
"What!?"
"Pretend I'm someone who has never worried. I'm mystified. It don't get it. Tell me how to worry."
"Well...I guess the first step is to envision a sequence of events as they might play out in the future."
"But I do that all the time. And yet I don't worry."
"It is a sequence of events with a bad end."
"So, you're worried that a pink dragon will fly over the concent and fart nerve gas on us?"

 

Neal Stephenson

 

The unexpressed aim of every politician is to influence events that history books will record his name - and spell it right.

 

Judy LaMarsh