A collection of top history quotes that sift the lessons of our past actions.

Top History Quotes To Inspire You

History is often said to be the greatest teacher for mankind because it is a study of the past. Each valuable tale from the past tell us a story. It not only provided the anchor for the right and wrong, but it allows us to understand the past. With this information at our fingertips, we can understand the present. Many leaders and great thinker often turn back to see what their predecessors have done and proceed to act in the same way. Its importance in modern society is self-evident. Moreover, history plays a vital role in building communities and civilizations. We can learn and discern more about our fellow being by following the footsteps of history. You can scroll through various sayings and quotations on the importance of history below. We have compiled these quotes from diverse sources, including philosophers, celebrities, global leaders, and religious figures.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.
Bil Keane

You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.

You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.
James Baldwin

No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn't know it.

No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn't know it.
Paulo Coelho

If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree.

If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree.
Michael Crichton

The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.

The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.
George Orwell

History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme.
Mark Twain

History, like love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of imaginary brightness.

History, like love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of imaginary brightness.
James Fenimore Cooper

One side of me is very busy paying attention to the details of life, the humanity of people, catching the street voices, the middle-class, upper-middle-class secret lives of Turks. The other side is interested in history and class and gender, trying to get all of society in a very realistic way.
Orhan Pamuk

I wanted to tell a romantic and dark side of Ottoman history that was also slightly political, saying to the previous generation of writers, 'Look, I'm interested in Ottoman things, and I'm not afraid of it, and I'm doing something creative.'
Orhan Pamuk

Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world's original sin. If the cave-man had known how to laugh, History would have been different.

Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world's original sin. If the cave-man had known how to laugh, History would have been different.
Oscar Wilde

Good fiction is about asserting the beauties of the world, inventing a new, positive thing. Where am I going to get that? And it should be original; it should not be cliched. So the way I looked at history was not to accuse it of failure.
Orhan Pamuk

I think documentaries are the greatest way to educate an entire generation that doesn't often look back to learn anything about the history that provided a safe haven for so many of us today.

I think documentaries are the greatest way to educate an entire generation that doesn't often look back to learn anything about the history that provided a safe haven for so many of us today.
Steven Spielberg

Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.

Without words, without writing and without books there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.
Hermann Hesse

Jazz in itself is not struggling. That is, the music itself is not struggling... It's the attitude that's in trouble. My plays insist that we should not forget or toss away our history.

Jazz in itself is not struggling. That is, the music itself is not struggling... It's the attitude that's in trouble. My plays insist that we should not forget or toss away our history.
August Wilson

History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology.

History is, strictly speaking, the study of questions; the study of answers belongs to anthropology and sociology.
W. H. Auden

I love history, so I do a lot of movies about history.

I love history, so I do a lot of movies about history.
Steven Spielberg

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.
Aldous Huxley

Social media has taken over in America to such an extreme that to get my own kids to look back a week in their history is a miracle, let alone 100 years.

Social media has taken over in America to such an extreme that to get my own kids to look back a week in their history is a miracle, let alone 100 years.
Steven Spielberg

May it not be that, just as we have to have faith in Him, God has to have faith in us and, considering the history of the human race so far, may it not be that 'faith' is even more difficult for Him than it is for us?

May it not be that, just as we have to have faith in Him, God has to have faith in us and, considering the history of the human race so far, may it not be that 'faith' is even more difficult for Him than it is for us?
W. H. Auden

President Kennedy has named two Negroes to District Judgeships and appointed Thurgood Marshall to the United States Court of Appeals. When I came to the Department of Justice, there were only ten Negroes employed as lawyers; not a single Negro served as a United States Attorney - or ever had in the history of the country. That has been changed.
Robert F. Kennedy

The history of men's opposition to women's emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.

The history of men's opposition to women's emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.
Virginia Woolf

History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.

History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.
James Joyce

Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.

Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it.
Edmund Burke

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.
Robert F. Kennedy

There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the security of a comfortable past which, in fact, never existed.

There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present, and invoke the security of a comfortable past which, in fact, never existed.
Robert F. Kennedy

Jewelry and pins have been worn throughout history as symbols of power, sending messages. Interestingly enough, it was mostly men who wore the jewelry in various times, and obviously crowns were part of signals that were being sent throughout history by people of rank.
Madeleine Albright

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms.

Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms.
Angela Carter

The travail of freedom and justice is not easy, but nothing serious and important in life is easy. The history of humanity has been a continuing struggle against temptation and tyranny - and very little worthwhile has ever been achieved without pain.
Robert F. Kennedy

The man who has no sense of history, is like a man who has no ears or eyes

The man who has no sense of history, is like a man who has no ears or eyes
Adolf Hitler

The history of the world shows that peoples and societies do not have to pass through a fixed series of stages in the course of development.

The history of the world shows that peoples and societies do not have to pass through a fixed series of stages in the course of development.
Aung San Suu Kyi

My place in history will depend on what I can do for the people and not on what the people can do for me.

My place in history will depend on what I can do for the people and not on what the people can do for me.
William Jennings Bryan

History, in general, only informs us what bad government is.

History, in general, only informs us what bad government is.
Thomas Jefferson

History is written by the victors.
Walter Benjamin

If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.

If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.
Rudyard Kipling

Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.

Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.
Mahatma Gandhi

Good women are no fun... The only good woman I can recall in history was Betsy Ross. And all she ever made was a flag.

Good women are no fun... The only good woman I can recall in history was Betsy Ross. And all she ever made was a flag.
Mae West

Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.

Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

You can hide memories, but you can't erase the history that produced them.

You can hide memories, but you can't erase the history that produced them.
Haruki Murakami

History is always changing.
Aung San Suu Kyi

The United States was born in revolution and nurtured by struggle. Throughout our history, the American people have befriended and supported all those who seek independence and a better way of life.

The United States was born in revolution and nurtured by struggle. Throughout our history, the American people have befriended and supported all those who seek independence and a better way of life.
Robert F. Kennedy

The feminine mystique has succeeded in burying millions of American women alive.

The feminine mystique has succeeded in burying millions of American women alive.
Betty Friedan

[I]f we revert to history, we shall find that the women who have distinguished themselves have neither been the most beautiful nor the most gentle of their sex.

[I]f we revert to history, we shall find that the women who have distinguished themselves have neither been the most beautiful nor the most gentle of their sex.
Mary Wollstonecraft

If you look at U.S. history through religious history, there is very much a motif that shows the importance religion has played in the U.S. We're a very religious country and it affects the way we look at various political issues.
Madeleine Albright

By its very nature, history is always a one-sided account.

By its very nature, history is always a one-sided account.
Dan Brown

There's an old saying about those who forget history. I don't remember it, but it's good.

There's an old saying about those who forget history. I don't remember it, but it's good.
Stephen Colbert

The hardest problems of all in law enforcement are those involving a conflict of law and local customs. History has recorded many occasions when the moral sense of a nation produced judicial decisions, such as the 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which required difficult local adjustments.
Robert F. Kennedy

What is history? The lie that everyone agrees on...

What is history? The lie that everyone agrees on...
Voltaire

All of us have a place in history. mine is clouds.

All of us have a place in history. mine is clouds.
Richard Brautigan

Women with pasts interest men because they hope history will repeat itself.

Women with pasts interest men because they hope history will repeat itself.
Mae West

Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.

Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.
Theodore Roosevelt

The history of antitrust law enforcement shows that successful antitrust prosecutions have often strengthened and brought vitality to extremely large companies and businesses.

The history of antitrust law enforcement shows that successful antitrust prosecutions have often strengthened and brought vitality to extremely large companies and businesses.
Robert F. Kennedy

The history of science has been one long series of violent brainstorms, as successive generations have come to terms with increasing levels of queerness in the universe.

The history of science has been one long series of violent brainstorms, as successive generations have come to terms with increasing levels of queerness in the universe.
Richard Dawkins

Don't forget your history nor your destiny

Don't forget your history nor your destiny
Bob Marley

There is no parallel in the history of the world. This mighty subcontinent with all kinds of inhabitants has been brought under a plan which is titanic, unknown, unparalleled. And what is very important with regard to it is that we have achieved it peacefully and by means of an evolution of the greatest possible character.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.

More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.
Woody Allen

I mean, if Beethoven had been killed in a plane crash at twenty-two, the history of music would have been very different. As would the history of aviation, of course.

I mean, if Beethoven had been killed in a plane crash at twenty-two, the history of music would have been very different. As would the history of aviation, of course.
Tom Stoppard

But perhaps the rest of us could have separate classes in science appreciation, the wonder of science, scientific ways of thinking, and the history of scientific ideas, rather than laboratory experience.

But perhaps the rest of us could have separate classes in science appreciation, the wonder of science, scientific ways of thinking, and the history of scientific ideas, rather than laboratory experience.
Richard Dawkins

We are not merely passive pawns of historical forces; nor are we victims of the past. We can shape and direct history.

We are not merely passive pawns of historical forces; nor are we victims of the past. We can shape and direct history.
Daisaku Ikeda

It used to be that I was known as 'the longest-serving independent in the history of the United States Congress,' which is true. Now I'm a 'self-professed democratic socialist.' Things change when you run for president.

It used to be that I was known as 'the longest-serving independent in the history of the United States Congress,' which is true. Now I'm a 'self-professed democratic socialist.' Things change when you run for president.
Bernie Sanders

Great Britain provided time; the United States provided money and Soviet Russia provided blood.

Great Britain provided time; the United States provided money and Soviet Russia provided blood.
Joseph Stalin

The great courageous act that we must all do, is to have the courage to step out of our history and past so that we can live our dreams.

The great courageous act that we must all do, is to have the courage to step out of our history and past so that we can live our dreams.
Oprah Winfrey

In terms of the history of a far reaching movement, 20 years is not that long.

In terms of the history of a far reaching movement, 20 years is not that long.
Aung San Suu Kyi

This is a moment in history where it is almost hard to catch your breath.

This is a moment in history where it is almost hard to catch your breath.
Hillary Clinton

The beauty or ugliness of a character lay not only in its achievements, but in its aims and impulses; its true history lay, not among things done, but among things willed.

The beauty or ugliness of a character lay not only in its achievements, but in its aims and impulses; its true history lay, not among things done, but among things willed.
Thomas Hardy

Hillary Clinton was the worst Secretary of State in the history of the country. The world came apart under her reign as Secretary of State.

Hillary Clinton was the worst Secretary of State in the history of the country. The world came apart under her reign as Secretary of State.
Donald Trump

To communicate the truths of history is an act of hope for the future.

To communicate the truths of history is an act of hope for the future.
Daisaku Ikeda

If two irreconcilable elements are struggling with each other, the solution lies in force. There has never been any other solution in history, and there never will be.

If two irreconcilable elements are struggling with each other, the solution lies in force. There has never been any other solution in history, and there never will be.
Benito Mussolini

History will record that the Citizens United decision is one of the worst in the history of our country.

History will record that the Citizens United decision is one of the worst in the history of our country.
Bernie Sanders

The history of saints is mainly the history of insane people.

The history of saints is mainly the history of insane people." -Benito Mussolini (Chuck Palahniuk - Pygmy)
Benito Mussolini

Fascism is a religion. The twentieth century will be known in history as the century of Fascism.

Fascism is a religion. The twentieth century will be known in history as the century of Fascism.
Benito Mussolini

Sometimes history takes things into its own hands.

Sometimes history takes things into its own hands.
Thurgood Marshall

Blood alone literally moves the wheels of history.

Blood alone literally moves the wheels of history.
Benito Mussolini

It is humiliating to remain with our hands folded while others write history. It matters little who wins. To make a people great it is necessary to send them to battle even if you have to kick them in the pants. That is what I shall do.
Benito Mussolini

History is the only true teacher, the revolution the best school for the proletariat.

History is the only true teacher, the revolution the best school for the proletariat.
Rosa Luxemburg

Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.

Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.
Robert A. Heinlein

As I speak to you today, government censors somewhere are working furiously to erase my words from the records of history. But history itself has already condemned these tactics.

As I speak to you today, government censors somewhere are working furiously to erase my words from the records of history. But history itself has already condemned these tactics.
Hillary Clinton

Ted Kennedy will go down in history as one of the giants of the U.S. Senate and one the most accomplished legislators in American history.

Ted Kennedy will go down in history as one of the giants of the U.S. Senate and one the most accomplished legislators in American history.
Bernie Sanders

A generation which ignores history has no past — and no future.

A generation which ignores history has no past — and no future.
Robert A. Heinlein

We find ourselves under the government of a system of political institutions, conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and religious liberty, than any of which the history of former times tells us.

We find ourselves under the government of a system of political institutions, conducing more essentially to the ends of civil and religious liberty, than any of which the history of former times tells us.
Benjamin Lincoln

Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.

Europe was created by history. America was created by philosophy.
Margaret Thatcher

Somebody made the statement that Donald Trump has built or owns the greatest collection of golf courses, ever, in the history of golf. And I believe that is 100 percent true.

Somebody made the statement that Donald Trump has built or owns the greatest collection of golf courses, ever, in the history of golf. And I believe that is 100 percent true.
Donald Trump

History is filled with tragic examples of wars that result from diplomatic impasse. Whether in our local communities or in international relations, the skillful use of our communicative capacities to negotiate and resolve differences is the first evidence of human wisdom.
Daisaku Ikeda

Now, there are some who would like to rewrite history - revisionist historians is what I like to call them.

Now, there are some who would like to rewrite history - revisionist historians is what I like to call them.
George W. Bush

I think that a lot of women that know they're going to be part of history somehow decide to have a character to be remembered by.

I think that a lot of women that know they're going to be part of history somehow decide to have a character to be remembered by.
Salma Hayek

History never repeats itself. Man always does.

History never repeats itself. Man always does.
Voltaire

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.
Marcus Garvey

Of course the Republicans have long wanted to privatize Social Security and destroy it. But Social Security has been the most important and valuable social program in the history of the United States.

Of course the Republicans have long wanted to privatize Social Security and destroy it. But Social Security has been the most important and valuable social program in the history of the United States.
Bernie Sanders

I'm not one of those who wants to purge our society of our Christian history.

I'm not one of those who wants to purge our society of our Christian history.
Richard Dawkins

Working gives you this new perspective. You don't take everything too seriously, and you realise that if you don't do too well on a history test, it's not the end of the world.

Working gives you this new perspective. You don't take everything too seriously, and you realise that if you don't do too well on a history test, it's not the end of the world.
Claire Danes

But then I remembered something Grandmere had once assured me of: No one has ever died of embarrassment-never, not once in the whole history of time.

But then I remembered something Grandmere had once assured me of: No one has ever died of embarrassment-never, not once in the whole history of time.
Meg Cabot

How do I define history? It's just one fucking thing after another

How do I define history? It's just one fucking thing after another
Alan Bennett

The Western world, in spite of its advantages of mechanization and industrial efficiency is today in a worse mess than ever before in history. The adoption Western economic theory and practice will not help us in achieving our goal of creating a happy and contented people. We must work our destiny in our own way and present to the world an economic system based on true Islamic concept of equality of manhood and social justice.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah

I believe that we must maintain pride in the knowledge that the actions we take, based on our own decisions and choices as individuals, link directly to the magnificent challenge of transforming human history.

I believe that we must maintain pride in the knowledge that the actions we take, based on our own decisions and choices as individuals, link directly to the magnificent challenge of transforming human history.
Daisaku Ikeda

Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good.

Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good.
Thomas Sowell

Humanity has experienced many revolutionary changes over the course of history: revolutions in agriculture, in science, industrial production, as well as numerous political revolutions. But these have all been limited to the external aspects of our individual and collective lives.
Daisaku Ikeda

Kings are the slaves of history.
Leo Tolstoy

We have to find our own purposes in life, which are not derived directly from our scientific history.

We have to find our own purposes in life, which are not derived directly from our scientific history.
Richard Dawkins

You don't change the course of history by turning the faces of portraits to the wall.

You don't change the course of history by turning the faces of portraits to the wall.
Jawaharlal Nehru

I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.

I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least.
Dorothy Day

The very action of the proletariat is a determining factor in history. And although we can no more jump over the stages of historical development than a man can jump over his shadow, nevertheless, we can accelerate or retard that development.
Rosa Luxemburg

The deliberate and deadly attacks which were carried out yesterday against our country were more than acts of terror. They were acts of war.

The deliberate and deadly attacks which were carried out yesterday against our country were more than acts of terror. They were acts of war.
George W. Bush

Top History Quotes To Inspire You

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