A. J. P. Taylor

Human blunders usually do more to shape history than human wickedness.

— A. J. P. Taylor

The Foreign Office knows no secrets.

— A. J. P. Taylor

History is the great propagator of doubt.

— A. J. P. Taylor

Nothing is inevitable until it happens.

— A. J. P. Taylor

A master of improvised speech and improvised policies.

— A. J. P. Taylor

History is not a catalogue but...a convincing version of events.

— A. J. P. Taylor

The present enables us to understand the past, not the other way round.

— A. J. P. Taylor

No war is inevitable until it breaks out.

— A. J. P. Taylor

The great armies, accumulated to provide security and preserve the peace, carried the nations to war by their own weight.

— A. J. P. Taylor

Like most of those who study history, he (Napoleon III) learned from the mistakes of the past how to make new ones.

— A. J. P. Taylor

If there had been no troublemakers, no Dissenters, we should still be living in caves.

— A. J. P. Taylor

In my opinion, most of the great men of the past were only there for the beer - the wealth, prestige and…

— A. J. P. Taylor

History is not another name for the past, as many people imply. It is the name for stories about the past.

— A. J. P. Taylor

If men are to respect each other for what they are, they must cease to respect each other for what they own.

— A. J. P. Taylor

Perfect soldier, perfect gentleman never gave offence to anyone not even the enemy.

— A. J. P. Taylor

The greatest problem about old age is the fear that it may go on too long.

— A. J. P. Taylor

History gets thicker as it approaches recent times: more people, more events, and more books written about them. More evidence is preserved,…

— A. J. P. Taylor

One of the penalties of being president of the United States is that you must subsist for four years without drinking anything…

— A. J. P. Taylor

George VI in the conventional parlance was a Good King who sacrificed his life to his sense of duty. If we are…

— A. J. P. Taylor

All other forms of history - economic history, social history, psychological history, above all sociology - seem to me history with the…

— A. J. P. Taylor

Lenin was the first to discover that capitalism 'inevitably' caused war; and he discovered this only when the First World War was…

— A. J. P. Taylor

If there had been a strong democratic sentiment in Germany, Hitler would never have come to power . [Germans] deserved what they…

— A. J. P. Taylor

There is nothing nicer than nodding off while reading. Going fast asleep and then being woken by the crash of the book…

— A. J. P. Taylor

He was what I often think is a dangerous thing for a statesman to be - a student of history; and like…

— A. J. P. Taylor

Every historian loves the past or should do. If not, he has mistaken his vocation; but it is a short step from…

— A. J. P. Taylor

In 1917 European history, in the old sense, came to an end. World history began. It was the year of Lenin and…

— A. J. P. Taylor

We are apt to say that a foreign policy is successful only when the country, or at any rate the governing class,…

— A. J. P. Taylor

American statesmen might like some Europeans more than others and even detect quaint resemblances to their own outlook; but they no more…

— A. J. P. Taylor

Rather an end in horror, than horror without end. He could not condemn principles he might need to invoke and apply later.…

— A. J. P. Taylor

The God of Battles will throw the dice that decide...

— A. J. P. Taylor

Knowledge breeds doubt, not certainty, And the more we know the more uncertain we become.

— A. J. P. Taylor

No matter what political reasons are given for war, the underlying reason is always economic.

— A. J. P. Taylor

Psychoanalysts believe that the only 'normal' people are those who cause no trouble either to themselves or anyone else.

— A. J. P. Taylor

The crusade against Communism was even more imaginary than the specter of Communism.

— A. J. P. Taylor

Psychoanalysts believe that the only "normal" people are those who cause not trouble to either themselves or anyone else.

— A. J. P. Taylor

Manchester has everything but good looks..., the only place in England which escapes our characteristic vice of snobbery.

— A. J. P. Taylor

There is nothing more agreeable in life than to make peace with the establishment and nothing more corrupting.

— A. J. P. Taylor

Freedom does not always win. This is one of the bitterest lessons of history.

— A. J. P. Taylor

We learn nothing from history except the infinite variety of men's behaviour.

— A. J. P. Taylor

A racing tipster who only reached Hitler's level of accuracy would not do well for his clients.

— A. J. P. Taylor