61 Quotes by A. J. P. Taylor

Lenin was the first to discover that capitalism 'inevitably' caused war; and he discovered this only when the First World War was already being fought. Of course he was right. Since every great state was capitalist in 1914.

In my opinion, most of the great men of the past were only there for the beer - the wealth, prestige and grandeur that went with the power.

No war is inevitable until it breaks out.

The great armies, accumulated to provide security and preserve the peace, carried the nations to war by their own weight.

Like most of those who study history, he (Napoleon III) learned from the mistakes of the past how to make new ones.

There is nothing more agreeable in life than to make peace with the establishment and nothing more corrupting.

He was what I often think is a dangerous thing for a statesman to be - a student of history; and like most of those who study history, he learned from the mistakes of the past how to make new ones.

Psychoanalysts believe that the only 'normal' people are those who cause no trouble either to themselves or anyone else.

Human blunders usually do more to shape history than human wickedness.