The title of hero is bestowed by the survivors upon the fallen, who themselves know nothing of heroism.

The new knowledge has not yet settled in culture. It has not yet been integrated in a new cosmic conception.

The repudiation of the primacy of understanding means the repudiation of the norms of judgment as well, and hence the abandonment of all ethical standards.

Whether the aim is in heaven or on earth, wisdom or wealth, the essential condition of its pursuit and attainment is always security and order.

History is the interpretation of the significance that the past has for us.

Every work of history constructs contexts and designs, forms in which past reality can be comprehended. History creates comprehensibility primarily by arranging facts meaningfully and only in a very limited sense by establishing strict causal connections.

What the study of history and artistic creation have in common is a mode of forming images.