Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. – H.G. Wells, The Outline of History

We are so clothed in rationalization and dissemblance that we can recognize but dimly the deep primal impulses that motivate us. – James Ramsey Ullman

Man — despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments — owes his existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains. – Author and exact wording unknown, I’ve been told this was quoted by Paul H

K is for “Kenghis Khan.” He was a very nice person. History has no record of him. There is a moral in that, somewhere. – Harlan Ellison, From A to Z in the Chocolate Alphabet