A. J. P. Taylor Past Quotations

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.

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

History is not another name for the past, as many people imply. It is the name for stories about the past.

The present enables us to understand the past, not the other way round.

Every historian loves the past or should do. If not, he has mistaken his vocation; but it is a short step from loving the past to regretting that it has ever changed. Conservatism is our greatest trade-risk; and we run psychoanalysts close in the belief that the only "normal" people are those who cause no trouble either to themselves or anybody else.