Great general causes, in history, are the tinder: chance is the match.
Feb 092016
Remembering
The obscurest epoch is today.
—Stevenson
Jan 222016
I want to visit the future to see how many parodies have entered the history books.
Jan 132016
It is the disappearance of slavery in reality that has caused its profusion in metaphor.
Nov 042015
The Puritans labored, not to persuade God to elect them — that was decided — but to show the neighbors that He had. Status trumps Grace.
Oct 302015
Historical figures are vectors, with magnitude and direction.
Oct 262015
Man begins by treating objects as agents; then he grows scientific, and treats agents as objects.
Oct 142015
The cure for whoring after the new is to learn how old it is.
Oct 062015
The tyrant concerned for his historical reputation must concentrate his fire on the inarticulate, who don’t leave pesky memoirs behind. Kill peasants, not Jews.
Sep 252015
History is made top down, civilization bottom up.
Sep 152015
To understand the past, treat it like the present; to understand the present, treat it like the past.