The past remains integral to us all, individually and collectively. We must concede the ancients their place, as I have argued. But their place is not simply back there in a separate and foreign country; it is assimilated in ourselves, and resurrected into an ever-changing present. – David Lowenthal, The Past Is a Foreign Country

The South creates the civilizations, the North conquers them, ruins them, borrows from them, spreads them: this is one summary of history. – Will and Ariel Durant, Lessons of History

History is a bath of blood. – William James, Memories and Studies

Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. Theres nothing to do but to stand there and take it. – Lyndon B. Johnson