There is nothing more agreeable in life than to make peace with the establishment and nothing more corrupting.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
Human blunders usually do more to shape history than human wickedness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mistakes often have a greater impact on history than intentional wrongdoing.
A. J. P. Taylor's quote suggests that the significant mistakes and errors made by people play a more crucial role in shaping historical events than the malicious actions of individuals. It highlights the unpredictable nature of human behavior where misjudgments and blunders can lead to substantial consequences, often altering the course of history more than deliberate acts of evil.
Themes
HistoryBlundersMistakesHuman BehaviorConsequences
In practice
Example use cases
In a history class discussion about the impact of World War I, this quote could be used to emphasize how misjudgments influenced the war's outcome.
More from A. J. P. Taylor
All quotes βThe male clerk with his quill pen and copper-plate handwriting had gone for good. The female short-hand typist took his place. It was a decisive moment in women's emancipation.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
In 1917 European history, in the old sense, came to an end. World history began. It was the year of Lenin and Woodrow Wilson, both of whom repudiated the traditional standards of political behaviour. Both preached Utopia, Heaven on Earth. It was the moment of birth for our contemporary world.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
Though the object of being a Great Power is to be able to fight a Great War, the only way of remaining a Great Power is not to fight one.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
If there had been no troublemakers, no Dissenters, we should still be living in caves.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
Bismarck fought 'necessary' wars and killed thousands, the idealists of the twentieth century fight 'just' wars and kill millions.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
Similar quotes
It is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced.
Tom BrokawRead
It was the slave's continuing desire for recognition that was the motor which propelled history forward, not the idle complacency and unchanging self-identity of the master
Francis FukuyamaRead
It was necessary, as a black historian, to have a personal agenda.
John Hope FranklinRead
Thus ended the great American Civil War, which must upon the whole be considered the noblest and least avoidable of all the great mass conflicts of which till then there was record.
Winston ChurchillRead
The Germans could not get over the perfidy of it. It was unbelievable that the English, having degenerated to the stage where suffragettes heckled the Prime Minister and defied the police, were going to fight.
Barbara TuchmanRead
The memory of the Second World War hangs over Europe, an inescapable and irresistible point of reference. Historical parallels are usually misleading and dangerous.
Antony BeevorRead