A. J. P. Taylor Quotes

I was a narrative historian, believing more and more as I matured that the first function of the historian was to answer the child's question, 'What happened next?'

A. J. P. Taylor

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Quotes to Explore

• I distrust Great Men. They produce a desert of uniformity around them and often a pool of blood too, and I always feel a little man's pleasure when they come a cropper.

  

  E. M. Forster
  • Great
  • Men
  • Man

• I appreciate cooperation with Turkey on many issues. We are grateful for the support we receive for E.U. and NATO integration for Montenegro.

  

  Igor Luksic
  • Support
  • Grateful

• When civilization takes a nose dive, how can you look away? You've got to be there. You've got to be at the bottom of the swimming pool taking notes.

  

  Gary Shteyngart
  • Look
  • Civilization
  • Pool

• I think in this, definitely, because you are feeling how it felt to live in a completely different time. The mannerisms and the way that people behaved was quite different.

  

  Radha Mitchell
  • People
  • Time
  • Different

• I want to live in a country that is not just a place but also an idea, and Jerusalem is the heart of the idea. There may be practical considerations, but a country cannot exist without an ethos, and Jerusalem is an ethos.

  

  Yair Lapid
  • Live
  • Country
  • Heart

• I motivate others by making sure that they understand to go after their dreams and don't let anyone tell you you can't. If you are motivated enough and put the work in that you can achieve anything in life that you set your mind to.

  

  Magic Johnson
  • Life
  • Work
  • Mind

• To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.

  

  Oscar Wilde
  • Modern
  • Expect
  • Intellect

• The person who figures out how to harness the collective genius of his or her organization is going to blow the competition away.

  

  Walter Wriston
  • Competition
  • Organization
  • Blow

• The last romantic novel I think I read was 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles.'

  

  Bartlett Sher
  • Think
  • Romantic
  • Last

• The other aspect of American identity worth focusing on is the concept of America as a nation of immigrants. That certainly is a partial truth. But it is often assumed to be the total truth.

  

  Samuel P. Huntington
  • Truth
  • American
  • America

• Acting is not acting. It isn't putting on a face and dancing around in a mask. It's believing that you are that character and playing him as if it were a normal day in the life of that character.

  

  Haley Joel Osment
  • Life
  • Character
  • Day

• I'm from Georgia, and everybody gathers around food in the South.

  

  Zac Brown Band
  • Food
  • Everybody
  • Georgia

• Here's the thing: 'The Hurt Locker' was an amazing, important film. But did I enjoy it? Of course not. It was very tough to watch and, while gripping, not exactly what you'd call a happy place.

  

  Rachel Sklar
  • Important
  • Happy
  • Amazing

• The distinctive feature of my family was intolerance of sensitivity and emotion - 'Everything's great, it all has to be great all the time and why do you have to spoil it?' Whereas probably the most fundamental and important thing to me has been defending my right to tell the truth about how I feel.

  

  Rachel Cusk
  • Time
  • Great
  • Important

• My general philosophy of playing bad guys, which I've sort of done, you know, half the time is, you know, very few people who we view as bad guys get out of bed and think, 'What evil, terrible thing am I going to do today?' Most people see their motivations as justified - as, you know, justifying whatever they do.

  

  J. K. Simmons
  • People
  • Time
  • Done

• Newt Gingrich is a boastful kind of guy. But when it comes to Wall Street, the former House speaker is surprisingly modest.

  

  Gary Weiss
  • Guy
  • House
  • Kind

• I adore 'The Chipmunks.'

  

  Kabir Bedi
  • Adore

• 'The Last Of Us,' to me, is just amazing storytelling, because everything's from the character point of view, which even movies don't really do successfully a lot of the time.

  

  Felicia Day
  • Time
  • Character
  • Amazing

• I don't believe he had a responsibility to even answer that question - you have no responsibility to answer personal questions that people have no right to ask you.

  

  Chris Matthews
  • People
  • Believe
  • Question

• Far better an approximate answer to the right question, which is often vague, than the exact answer to the wrong question, which can always be made precise.

  

  John Tukey
  • Question

• Now, here's a good question: should serious people focus on global political instability - terrorism, failing states, nuclear weapons - or should we focus on global climate instability - droughts, floods, extreme weather? Here's the correct answer: yes, both, because climate disruption will make every other national security problem worse.

  

  Van Jones
  • People
  • Good
  • Political

• In theater or movies you see either 'I'm religious' or 'I'm an atheist.' I've never seen too much discussion of 'I believe there's a higher power but I'm hesitant to reach out to him because I don't know if I'm worthy of his attention.'

  

  Zach Braff
  • Believe
  • Power
  • Attention

• A manifesto, a diary, a crumpled suicide note, and a still relevant love letter.

  

  Art Spiegelman
  • Suicide

• I was a narrative historian, believing more and more as I matured that the first function of the historian was to answer the child's question, 'What happened next?'

  

  A. J. P. Taylor
  • Question