What is simple is false and what is not is useless.

A great man is one who leaves others at a loss after he is gone.

Having precise ideas often leads to a man doing nothing.

History is the science of things which are not repeated.

In poetry everything which must be said is almost impossible to say well.

The mere notion of photography, when we introduce it into our meditation on the genesis of historical knowledge and its true value, suggests the simple question: Could such and such a fact, as it is narrated here, have been photographed?

History is the most dangerous product which the chemistry of the mind has concocted. Its properties are well known. It produces dreams and drunkenness. It fills people with false memories, exaggerates their reactions, exacerbates old grievances, torments them in their repose, and encourages either a delirium of grandeur or a delusion of persecution. It makes whole nations bitter, arrogant, insufferable and vainglorious.