Men do not learn much from the lessons of history and that is the most important of all the lessons read more

Men do not learn much from the lessons of history and that is the most important of all the lessons of history.

What most impresses us about great jurists is not their tenacious grasps of fine points, honed almost to invisibility; it read more

What most impresses us about great jurists is not their tenacious grasps of fine points, honed almost to invisibility; it is the moment when we are suddently aware of the sweep and direction of the law, and its place in the lives of men.

There is properly no history, only biography.

There is properly no history, only biography.

It is not the literal past, the "facts" of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in read more

It is not the literal past, the "facts" of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in language.

In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the read more

In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange, mournful mutter of the battlefield.

History teaches us that whenever a weak and ignorant people possess a thing which a strong and enlightened people want, read more

History teaches us that whenever a weak and ignorant people possess a thing which a strong and enlightened people want, it must be yielded up peaceably.

You can't set a hen in one morning and have chicken salad for lunch.

You can't set a hen in one morning and have chicken salad for lunch.

True enough, the country is calm. Calm as a morgue or a grave, would you not say?

True enough, the country is calm. Calm as a morgue or a grave, would you not say?

History is a confused heap of facts.

History is a confused heap of facts.