Historian Quote by Ambrose Bierce Download Open image “God alone knows the future, but only an historian can alter the past.” — Ambrose Bierce ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3.4 out of 5 (6 ratings) Copy quoteShare Historian History Past Time
God cannot alter the past, that is why he is obliged to connive at the existence of historians — Samuel Butler Copy Share Image
Since God himself cannot change the past, He is obliged to tolerate the existence of historians. — Samuel Butler Copy Share Image
God only rarely reveals the future. When he does so, it is for one reason: it's a future that was written so as to… — Paulo Coelho Copy Share Image
The past can never be better than the future, because God is already there... — Anonymous Copy Share Image
“It has been said that although God cannot alter the past, historians can --it is perhaps because they can be useful to Him in… — Samuel Butler Copy Share Image
OBSESSED, p.p. Vexed by an evil spirit, like the Gadarene swine and other critics. Obsession was once more common than it is now. Arasthus tells of a peasant who was occupied by a different devil for every day in the week, and on Sundays by two. They were frequently seen, always walking in his shadow, when he had one, but… — Ambrose Bierce Copy Share
DECIDE, v.i. To succumb to the preponderance of one set of influences over another set. — Ambrose Bierce Copy Share Image
IMMORAL, adj. Inexpedient. Whatever in the long run and with regard to the greater number of instances men find to be generally inexpedient comes… — Ambrose Bierce Copy Share Image
REVIEW, v.t. To set your wisdom (holding not a doubt of it./ Although in truth there's neither bone nor skin to it)/ At work… — Ambrose Bierce Copy Share Image
CLOCK, n. A machine of great moral value to man, allaying his concern for the future by reminding him what a lot of time… — Ambrose Bierce Copy Share Image
RUBBISH, n. Worthless matter, such as the religions, philosophies, literatures, arts and sciences of the tribes infesting the regions lying due south from Boreaplas. — Ambrose Bierce Copy Share Image
There was never a genius who was not thought a fool until he disclosed himself; whereas he is a fool then only. — Ambrose Bierce Copy Share Image
Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance. — Ambrose Bierce Copy Share Image
WHANGDEPOOTENAWAH, n. In the Ojibwa tongue, disaster; an unexpected affliction that strikes hard. — Ambrose Bierce Copy Share Image
Jealous, adj. Unduly concerned about the preservation of that which can be lost only if not worth keeping. — Ambrose Bierce Copy Share Image
RIDICULE, n. Words designed to show that the person of whom they are uttered is devoid of the dignity of character distinguishing him who… — Ambrose Bierce Copy Share Image
We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what… — John Dryden Copy Share Image
The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains have been pealing along down the centuries, and though there have been mingled the discords of warring cannon and dying men, yet to the Christian philosopher and historian - the humble listener - there has been… — James A. Garfield Copy Share
In history as it comes to be written, there is usually some Spirit of the Age which historians can define, but the shape of… — Joseph Wood Krutch Copy Share Image
A historian is not always a prophet facing backwards, but a journalist is always someone who afterwards knew everything beforehand. — Karl Kraus Copy Share Image
The novelist must look on humanity without partiality or prejudice. His sympathy, like that of the historian, must be unbounded, and untainted by sect… — Goldwin Smith Copy Share Image
The issue of civil rights was too much for the establishment to handle. One of the chapters of history that's least studied by historians… — Tom Hayden Copy Share Image
All I am in private life is a literary critic and historian, that's my job...And I'm prepared to say on that basis if anyone thinks the Gospels are either legends or novels, then that person is simply showing his incompetence as a literary critic. I've read a great many novels and I know a fair amount about the legends that… — C. S. Lewis Copy Share
If experiments are performed thousands of times at all seasons and in every place without once producing the effects mentioned by your philosophers, poets,… — Galileo Galilei Copy Share Image
I'm a historian by training and by conviction. And so the thing that has throughout informed my thinking about international relations is history. I… — Timothy Garton Ash Copy Share Image
The footnote would seem to be the smallest detail in a work of history. Yet it carries a large burden of responsibility, testifying to… — Gertrude Himmelfarb Copy Share Image
Who says history is stagnant? For a historian, facts do not change; it is the way we look at things, our interpretations, that are… — Anonymous Copy Share Image
