I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. More Quotes by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. More Quotes From Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Honest history is the weapon of freedom. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. honestweaponshistory It is useful to remember that history is to the nation as memory is to the individual. As a person deprived of memory becomes disorientated and lost, not knowing where they have been or where they are going , so a nation denied a conception of the past will be disabled in dealing with its present and its future. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. knowingmemoriespast If we are to survive, we must have ideas, vision, and courage. These things are rarely produced by committees. Everything that matters in our intellectual and moral life begins with an individual confronting his own mind and conscience in a room by himself. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. learningcourageknowledge The first rule of democracy is to distrust all leaders who begin to believe their own publicity. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. democracyleaderbelieve The broad liberal objective is a balanced and flexible "mixed economy," thus seeking to occupy that middle ground between capitalism and socialism whose viability has so long been denied by both capitalists and socialists. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. socialismlibertarianlong Science and Technology revolutionize our lives, but memory, tradition and myth frame our response. Expelled from individual consciousness by the rush of change, history finds its revenge by stamping the collective unconscious with habits, values, expectations, dreams. The dialectic between past and future will continue to form our lives. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. revengedreammemories Clarity in language depends on clarity in thought. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. claritylanguagewriting I trust that a graduate student some day will write a doctoral essay on the influence of the Munich analogy on the subsequent history of the twentieth century. Perhaps in the end he will conclude that the multitude of errors committed in the name of Munich may exceed the original error of 1938. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. errorsnameswriting The basic human rights documents-the American Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man-were written by political, not by religious, leaders. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. religiousrightsmen In view of the tide of religiosity engulfing a once secular republic it is refreshing to be reminded by Freethinkers that free thought and skepticism are robustly in the American tradition. After all the Founding Fathers began by omitting God from the American Constitution. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. republicviewsfather The great religious ages were notable for their indifference to human rights... not only for acquiescence in poverty, inequality, exploitation and oppression, but also for enthusiastic justifications for slavery, persecution, abandonment of small children, torture, and genocide... Moreover, religion enshrined hierarchy, authority, and inequality... It was the age of equality that brought about the disappearance of such religious appurtenances as the auto-da-fe and burning at the stake. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. religiousrightschildren What we need is a rebirth of satire, of dissent, of irreverence, of an uncompromising insistence that phoniness is phony and platitudes are platitudinous. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. irreverencedeceptionneeds People who claw their way to the top are not likely to find very much wrong with the system that enabled them to rise. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. diversityjusticepeople History is, indeed, an argument without end. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. argumentendshistory Politics in a democracy is, at the end, an educational process. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. democracyeducationalpolitician Problems will always torment us because all important problems are insoluble: that is why they are important. The good comes from the continuing struggle to try and solve them, not from the vain hope of their solution. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. importantstruggletrying Those who are convinced they have a monopoly on The Truth always feel that they are only saving the world when they slaughter the heretics. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. savingwarworld The passion for tidiness is the historian's occupational disease. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. passiondiseasehistory Total separation of church and state was considered the best safeguard for the health of each. As [Andrew] Jackson explained, in refusing to name a fast day, he feared to 'disturb the security which religion now enjoys in this country, in its complete separation from the political concerns of the General Government.' Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. governmentnamescountry Science and technology revolutionize our lives, but memory, tradition and myth frame our response. Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. technologymemoriesscience
