27 Quotes by Peter Gay

I am not comfortable with the life-against-death generalization that Freud makes; it strikes me as too convenient.

Since God is silent, man is his own master; he must live in a disenchanted world, submit everything to criticism, and make his own way.

I have always had a strong interest in history and finding out about the past can be remarkably helpful with working out the future, too.

I decided that what I really wanted to do was to make my writing in history deeper, if that's the right word to use. And that is what I did.

With the passage of years, not all of Dicken's readers remained infatuated with his pathos. One generation's sublimity became another generation's kitsch.

The ideas of theologians are refuted by their adversaries, the ideas of scientists are refuted by their followers.

Excellence was the best revenge.

People seem to forget that one reason they are now thinking differently is Freud’s legacy itself.

Hysteria defied self-control; obsessional neurosis mimicked it.