[H]istory is a melodrama on the theme of parasitism, characterized by scenes that are exciting or dull, as the case may be, and many a sudden stagetrick. – Max Nordau, The Interpretation of History

In the tumult of men and events, solitude was my temptation now it is my friend. What other satisfaction can be sought once you have confronted History? – Charles de Gaulle

The subject of history is the gradual realization of all that is practically necessary. – Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel