Lily Tomlin

Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world.

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.

I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.

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

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.

Kings are the slaves of history.

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.

Historians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no one has asked them.

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.

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

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

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!

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.

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

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

History has shown there are no invincible armies.

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.