145 Quotes by Barbara Tuchman

If all were equalized by death, as the medieval idea constantly emphasized, was it not possible that inequalities on earth were contrary to the will of God?

For most people reform meant relief from ecclesiastical extortions.

Doctrine tied itself into infinite knots over the realities of sex.

In individuals as in nations, contentment is silent, which tends to unbalance the historical record.

Friendship of a kind that cannot easily be reversed tomorrow must have its roots in common interests and shared beliefs.

Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill.

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.

Completeness is rare in history...

Wisdom – meaning judgment acting on experience, common sense, available knowledge, and a decent appreciation of probability.