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?
In here, the human bosom -- mine, yours, everybody's -- there isn't just one soul. There's a lot of souls. But there are two main ones, the real soul and a pretender soul. Now! Every man realizes that he has to love something or somebody. He feels that he must go outward. 'If thou canst not love, what art thou?' Are you with me?
Where there is no strife there is decay: 'The mixture which is not shaken decomposes.'
The teachings of Christianity - from vicarious redemption to the love of enemies, no thought for the morrow need be taken, that no thrift or care or family or society or solidarity is necessary - these are immoral teachings that have done and continue to inflict untold moral and physical harm on our species. And until we outgrow this nonsense, we have no chance of emancipating ourselves.
Human affairs are so obscure and various that nothing can be clearly known.
I do not know whether it ought to be so, but certainly silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way. Wickedness is always wickedness, but folly is not always folly.
I am sometimes shocked by the blasphemies of those who think themselves pious.
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