Leo Tolstoy

There is no greatness where there is not simplicity, goodness, and truth.

Here I am alive, and it’s not my fault, so I have to try and get by as best I can without hurting anybody until death takes over.

If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then all possibility of life is destroyed.

Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.

The best stories don’t come from ‘good vs. bad’ but ‘good vs. good.’

Because of the self-confidence with which he had spoken, no one could tell whether what he said was very clever or very stupid.

Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.

The historic ascent of humanity, taken as a whole, may be summarized as a succession of victories of consciousness over blind forces – in nature, in society, in man himself.

History teaches us that unity is strength, and cautions us to submerge and overcome our differences in the quest for common goals, to strive, with all our combined strength, for the path to true African brotherhood and unity.

How incredible our ancestors were. The first astrophysicists, scientists, physicians, mathematicians, architects, creators of so much of the world as we know it. It’s a blessing to know what cloth you’re cut from!

Against my protests a mausoleum was built on the Red Square, a monument unbecoming and offensive to the revolutionary consciousness.

History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.

England is nothing but the last ward of the European madhouse, and quite possibly it will prove to be the ward for particularly violent cases.

History has shown there are no invincible armies.

Any event, once it has occurred, can be made to appear inevitable by a competent historian.

Kings are the slaves of history.

He who does not understand history is doomed to repeat it.

To persons uninstructed in natural history, their country or seaside stroll is a walk through a gallery filled with wonderful works of art, nine-tenths of which have their faces turned to the wall.

Americans Never Quit. We never surrender. We never hide from history. We Make History.

The Holocaust was a crime without parallel in history, and I am proud to launch an initiative to raise awareness of and to tackle anti-Semitism in all its forms. This is the start of an important journey and we all have a part to play.

Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.