I have a private theory, Sir, that there are no heroes and no monsters in this world. Only children should be allowed to use these words
Alfred De VignyRead
History is a novel for which the people is the author.
Interpretation
History is shaped by the actions and decisions of people.
This quote by Alfred De Vigny suggests that history is not merely a record of events, but rather a narrative crafted by the collective choices and actions of individuals. Just as an author pens a novel, the people contribute their stories, influences, and decisions, thereby forming the legacy of our past.
In practice
During a lecture on the impact of individual choices in history.
I have a private theory, Sir, that there are no heroes and no monsters in this world. Only children should be allowed to use these words
The existence of the soldier, next to capital punishment, is the most grievous vestige of barbarism which survives among men.
We shall find in our troubled hearts, where discord reigns, two needs which seem at variance, but which merge, as I think, in a common source - the love of the true, and the love of the fabulous.
Do you not see with your own eyes the chrysalis fact assume by degrees the wings of fiction?
Of what use were the arts if they were only the reproduction and the imitation of life?
Of what use is the memory of facts, if not to serve as an example of good or of evil?
Anything's possible in Human Nature," Chacko said in his Reading Aloud voice. Talking to the darkness now, suddenly insensitive to his little fountain-haired niece. "Love. Madness. Hope. Infinite joy." Of the four things that were Possible in Human Nature, Rahel thought that Infinnate Joy sounded the saddest. Perhaps because of the way Chacko said it. Infinnate Joy. With a church sound to it. Like a sad fish with fins all over.
A community where everyone is a ruthless murderer, with handy access to death-dealing devices, is a very polite community.
Grace is the celebration of life, relentlessly hounding all the non-celebrants in the world. It is a floating, cosmic bash shouting its way through the streets of the universe, flinging the sweetness of its cassations to every window, pounding at every door in a hilarity beyond all liking and happening, until the prodigals come out at last and dance, and the elder brothers finally take their fingers out of their ears.
As long as civilization is essentially one of property, of fences, of exclusiveness, it will be mocked by delusions. Our riches will leave us sick; there will be bitterness in our laughter, and our wine will burn our mouth. Only that good profits which we can taste with all doors open, and which serves all men.
The principle of tolerance and respect for freedom promoted by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council are today being manipulated and erroneously taken too far.
It's a travesty that people have forced someone who is gay to have to make their case that they deserve the same basic rights...
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