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The great difficulty which history records is not that of the first step, but that of the second step.

— Walter Bagehot Physics and Politics (1869)

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More quotes by Walter Bagehot

One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea.

Physics and Politics (1869)

In truth, poverty is an anomaly to rich people. It is very difficult to make out why people who want dinner do not ring the bell.

Walter Scott : The Critical Heritage (1970)

A good horse likes to feel the rider’s bit; and a great deliberative assembly likes to feel that it is under worthy guidance.

The English Constitution (1894)

A great assembly is as soon spoiled by over-indulgence as a little child.

The English Constitution (1894)

It is often said that men are ruled by their imaginations; but it would be truer to say they are governed by the weakness of their imaginations.

The English Constitution (1894)

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A generation which ignores history has no past —and no future.

Robert A. Heinlein Time Enough for Love (1973)

History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.

James Joyce Ulysses (1922)

If we don’t care about our past we can’t have very much hope for our future.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past, — so good night!

Thomas Jefferson

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Walter Bagehot (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.