My main ambition as a historian is to figure out what's really happening in the world, instead of the fictions that humans… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Those once victimised by history are likely to be victimised yet again. And those whom history has privileged are more likely to… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“So why study history? Unlike physics or economics, history is not a means for making accurate predictions. We study history not to… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“alongside seas and rivers rich in seafood and waterfowl, humans set up permanent fishing villages – the first permanent settlements in history,… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“That's how history unfolds. People weave a web of meaning, believe in it with all their heart, but sooner or later the… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“This is the paradox of historical knowledge. Knowledge that does not change behaviour is useless. But knowledge that changes behaviour quickly loses… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“The human collective knows far more today than did the ancient bands. But at the individual level, ancient foragers were the most… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Throughout history, societies have suffered from two kinds of poverty: social poverty, which withholds from some people the opportunities available to others;… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“it becomes crystal clear that history is moving relentlessly towards unity.” — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“This minuscule 2 per cent of the earth’s surface constituted the stage on which history unfolded.” — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Three important revolutions shaped the course of history: the Cognitive Revolution kick-started history about 70,000 years ago. The Agricultural Revolution sped it… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
Animals are the main victims of history, and the treatment of domesticated animals in industrial farms is perhaps the worst crime in… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“When they enter the classroom, however, they may well discover that the algorithms have got there first. Companies such as Mindojo are… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“The crucial historical role of religion has been to give superhuman legitimacy to these fragile structures. Religions assert that our laws are… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“So why study history? Unlike physics or economics, history is not a means for making accurate predictions. We study history not to… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“The most important impact of script on human history is precisely this: it has gradually changed the way humans think and view… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“To acknowledge that history is not deterministic is to acknowledge that it is just a coincidence that most people today believe in… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
Intelligence is the ability to solve problems, whereas consciousness is the ability to feel things such as pain, joy, love, and anger.… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Whether or not Project Gilgamesh succeeds, from a historical perspective it is fascinating to see that most late-modern religions and ideologies have… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“I teach the kids history, or quantum physics, or art – but above all I try to teach them to think for themselves.” — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“We have reached a turning point in history in which major historical processes are partly caused by the decisions of nonhuman intelligence.… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
You need to constantly remind yourself what is the most important thing that is happening in the world - what is the… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“This is one of the distinguishing marks of history as an academic discipline – the better you know a particular historical period,… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“The history of science is replete with abandoned concepts and theories. For instance, early modern scientists who tried to account for the… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Studying history aims to loosen the grip of the past. It enables us to turn our head this way and that, and… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“For similar reasons, archaic humans did not initiate any revolutions. As far as we can tell, changes in social patterns, the invention of new… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Today the main source of wealth is knowledge. And whereas you can conquer oil fields through war, you cannot acquire knowledge that way.” — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? First, you never admit that the order… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
I think the basic thing that happened is we have lost our story. Humans think in stories, and we try to make sense of… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Whereas chimpanzees spend five hours a day chewing raw food, a single hour suffices for people eating cooked food. The advent of cooking enabled… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Whereas liberalism merged with the milder versions of nationalism to protect the unique experiences of each human community, evolutionary humanists such as Hitler identified… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Corporations, money and nations exist only in our imagination. We invented them to serve us; why do we find ourselves sacrificing our lives in… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Small children in affluent societies often dislike showering, and it takes them years of education and parental discipline to adopt this supposedly attractive custom.… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Ever more scholars see cultures as a kind of mental infection or parasite, with humans as its unwitting host. Organic parasites, such as viruses,… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Soviet Communism was a fanatical and missionary religion. A devout Communist could not be a Christian or a Buddhist, and was expected to spread… — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
“Whereas religion asks us to believe in something, money asks us to believe that other people believe in something” — Yuval Noah Harari Copy Share Image
