Rhino-mounted Bantu shock troops could have overthrown the Roman Empire. It never happened.

Much of human history has consisted of unequal conflicts between the haves and the have-nots.

[T]he values to which people cling most stubbornly under inappropriate conditions are those values that were previously the source of their greatest triumphs.

I personally am not conscious of my accent.

History as well as life itself is complicated -- neither life nor history is an enterprise for those who seek simplicity and consistency.

One way to explain the complexity and unpredictability of historical systems, despite their ultimate determinacy, is to note that long chains of causation may separate final effects from ultimate causes lying outside the domain of that field of science.

All human societies go through fads in which they temporarily either adopt practices of little use or else abandon practices of considerable use.