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It is somewhat odd that those who are most opposed to tradition and fixed roles in European society hold up as a model Aboriginal society with its pre-programmed roles sanctioned by an unquestionable tradition.

— John Hirst Sense and Nonsense in Australian History (2005)

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More quotes by John Hirst

Much of what now passes for social science is concerned not to explain human differences but to explain them away.

Sense and Nonsense in Australian History (2005)

... if rights are to be protected there must be a community to which people are warmly attached so that they will care about each other's rights.

The Australians: Insiders and Outsiders on the National Character since 1770 (2007)

European civilisation is unique because it is the only civilisation which has imposed itself on the rest of the world. It did this by conquest and settlement; by its economic power; by the power of its ideas; and because it had things that everyone else wanted. Today every country on earth uses the discoveries of science and the technologies that flow from it, and science was a European invention.

The Shortest History of Europe (2009)

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