78 Quotes by Theodore Zeldin

To be a catalyst is the ambition most appropriate for those who see the world as being in constant change, and who, without thinking that they can control it, wish to influence its direction.

Breaking accepted rules does bring people together.

Nothing influences our ability to cope with the difficulties of our existence so much as the context in which we view them; the more contexts we can choose between, the less do the difficulties appear to be inevitable and insurmountable.

Two individuals, conversing honestly, can be inspired by the feeling that they are engaged in a joint enterprise, aiming at inventing an art which has not been tried before.

Everything I am going to say to you is the child of a conversation. [...] That is the aspect of conversation that particularly excites me: how conversation changes the way you see the world, and even changes the world.

Only when people learn to converse will they begin to be equal.

The past is what provides us with the building blocks. Our job today is to create new buildings out of them.

Change the way you think, and you are halfway to changing the world.

The violent have been victorious for most of history because they kindled the fear with which everyone is born.