Barbara Tuchman Professions : Historian Born : January 30, 1912 Died : February 6, 1989 Browse All Authors Top 129 quotes by Barbara Tuchman Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change (as the poet said), windows on the world and lighthouses erected in the sea of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print. Barbara Tuchman sea teacher book Strong prejudices in an ill-formed mind are hazardous to government, and when combined with a position of power even more so. Barbara Tuchman strong power thinking Wooden-headedness, the source of self-deception, is a factor that plays a remarkably large role in government. It consists in assessing a situation in terms of preconceived fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting according to wish while not allowing oneself to be deflected by the facts. Barbara Tuchman government self thinking Books are humanity in print. Barbara Tuchman print humanity book Policy is formed by preconceptions, by long implanted biases. When information is relayed to policy-makers, they respond in terms of what is already inside their heads and consequently make policy less to fit the facts than to fit the notions and intentions formed out of the mental baggage that has accumulated in their minds since childhood. Barbara Tuchman childhood government long In America, where the electoral process is drowning in commercial techniques of fund-raising and image-making, we may have completed a circle back to a selection process as unconcerned with qualifications as that which made Darius King of Persia. ... he whose horse was the first to neigh at sunrise should be King. Barbara Tuchman horse government kings Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Barbara Tuchman reading stupid book Government remains the paramount area of folly because it is there that men seek power over others - only to lose it over themselves. Barbara Tuchman folly power men What his imagination is to the poet, facts are to the historian. His exercise of judgment comes in their selection, his art in their arrangement. Barbara Tuchman imagination exercise art War is the unfolding of miscalculations. Barbara Tuchman military war peace One must stop conducting research before one has finished. Otherwise, one will never stop and never finish. Barbara Tuchman conducting finished research Chief among the forces affecting political folly is lust for power, named by Tacitus as "the most flagrant of all the passions." Because it can only be satisfied by power over others, government is its favorite field of exercise. Business offers a kind of power, but only to the very successful at the top, and without the dominion and titles and red carpets and motorcycle escorts of public office. Barbara Tuchman passion successful exercise The power to command frequently causes failure to think. Barbara Tuchman command causes thinking In the search for meaning we must not forget that the gods (or God, for that matter) are a concept of the human mind; they are the creatures of man, not vice versa. They are needed and invented to give meaning and purpose to the struggle that is life on Earth, to explain strange and irregular phenomena of nature, haphazard events and, above all, irrational human conduct. They exist to bear the burden of all things that cannot be comprehended except by supernatural intervention or design. Barbara Tuchman struggle giving men An essential element for good writing is a good ear: One must listen to the sound of one's own prose. Barbara Tuchman essentials sound writing The better part of valor is to spend it learning to live with differences, however hostile, unless and until we can find another planet. Barbara Tuchman planets conflict differences Words are seductive and dangerous material, to be used with caution. Barbara Tuchman seductive dangerous used In April 1917 the illusion of isolation was destroyed, America came to the end of innocence, and of the exuberant freedom of bachelor independence. That the responsibilities of world power have not made us happier is no surprise. To help ourselves manage them, we have replaced the illusion of isolation with a new illusion of omnipotence. Barbara Tuchman omnipotence responsibility america One constant among the elements of 1914—as of any era—was the disposition of everyone on all sides not to prepare for the harder alternative, not to act upon what they suspected to be true. Barbara Tuchman eras alternatives elements The writer's object is - or should be - to hold the reader's attention. Barbara Tuchman reader should attention Similar Authors Abram L. Sachar historian Bryan Ward-Perkins historian Bruce Catton historian Bruce Bartlett historian Brian Crozier historian Allan Nevins historian All Authors
