Every major horror of history was committed in the name of an altruistic motive. Has any act of selfishness ever equaled the carnage perpetrated by disciples of altruism? – Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

Providence conceals itself in the details of human affairs, but becomes unveiled in the generalities of history. – Alphonse de Lamartine

For what is history, but… huge libel on human nature, to which we industriously add page after page, volume after volume, as if we were holding up a monument to the honor, rather than the infamy of our species. – Washington Irving, History of New York