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Too rigid specialization is almost as bad for a historian's mind, and for his ultimate reputation, as too early an indulgence in broad generalization and synthesis.

— Samuel Eliot Morison

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More quotes by Samuel Eliot Morison

So far so good; but it never remains good long on Guadalcanal.

Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions (1949)

You do not need chariots and horsemen, harps and war-horns, to make history interesting.

History as a Literary Art (1946)

The University is a school of liberty as well as of learning; and events of the last few years have driven home the lesson that only in an atmosphere of liberty, and in a body politic that practises as well as preaches democracy, can learning flourish.

Three Centuries of Harvard (1936)

The great historians, with few exceptions, are those who have not merely studied, but lived; and whose studies have ranged over a much wider field than the period or subject of which they write.

History as a Literary Art (1946)

He [Columbus] enjoyed long stretches of pure delight such as only a seaman may know, and moments of high, proud exultation that only a discoverer can experience.

Admiral of the Ocean Sea (1942)

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