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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.

— A. J. P. Taylor The Trouble Makers: Dissent over Foreign Policy, 1792-1939 (1957)

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More quotes by A. J. P. Taylor

A racing tipster who only reached Hitler's level of accuracy would not do well for his clients.

The Origins of the Second World War (1961)

The peace of the world depends on American strength and, still more, on American restraint.

National freedom is as important as economic freedom or the freedom of the individual.

Communists have no principle or belief except the seizure of power by their party.

The greatest problem about old age is the fear that it may go on too long.

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Attribution

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