History is full of the dead weight of things which have escaped the control of the mind, yet drive man on with a blind force. – Frederick Maurice Powicke, History, Freedom & Religion

It is the great sadness of our species that we have not found a way to eliminate the conflict and to eliminate violence as a device to resolve our conflicts throughout the entire history of the human race. – Neale Donald Walsch

Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest do not happen at all: the conscientious historian will correct these defects. – Herodotus, The History of Herodotus