Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice.
Woodrow WilsonRead
It is like writing history with lightning and my only regret is that it is all so terribly true.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the swift and impactful nature of events that shape history, with a sense of regret for their harsh reality.
Woodrow Wilson's quote suggests that significant historical events often occur rapidly and with immense force, much like a lightning strike. He conveys a sense of sorrow or regret that these events are not just stories or myths, but rather painful truths that encapsulate the complexities and struggles of the human experience. Through this metaphor, Wilson emphasizes the seriousness and immediacy of these historical moments.
Themes
HistoryTruthImpactRegretEvents
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a documentary about historical events to emphasize their profound impact.
More from Woodrow Wilson
All quotes βSince trade ignores national boundaries and the manufacturer insists on having the world as a market, the flag of his nation must follow him, and the doors of the nations which are closed against him must be battered down. Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process. Colonies must be obtained or planted, in order that no useful corner of the world may be overlooked or left unused.
Woodrow WilsonRead
The history of liberty is the history of limitations on the power of government, not the increase of it. When we resist, therefore, the concentration of power, we are resisting the processes of death, because concentration of power is what always precedes the destruction of human liberties.
Woodrow WilsonRead
We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers.
Woodrow WilsonRead
The way to stop financial joyriding is to arrest the chauffeur, not the automobile.
Woodrow WilsonRead
Once lead this people into war, and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance. To fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fiber of our national life, infecting Congress, the courts, the policeman on the beat, the man in the street.
Woodrow WilsonRead
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History is not history unless it is the truth.
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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.
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Madam President, speaking here in Dublin Castle it is impossible to ignore the weight of history, as it was yesterday when you and I laid wreaths at the Garden of Remembrance.
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