Historian Quotes

"Nothing is inevitable until it happens."

"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."

"No matter what political reasons are given for war, the underlying reason is always economic."

"No war is inevitable until it breaks out."

"There is nothing more agreeable in life than to make peace with the Establishment - and nothing more corrupting."

"Psychoanalysts believe that the only 'normal' people are those who cause no trouble either to themselves or anyone else."

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

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

"A master of improvised speech and improvised policies."

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

"The crusade against Communism was even more imaginary than the specter of Communism."

"The great armies, accumulated to provide security and preserve the peace, carried the nations to war by their own weight."

"Human blunders usually do more to shape history than human wickedness."

"He was what I often think is a dangerous thing for a statesman to be - a student of history; and like most of those who study history, he learned from the mistakes of the past how to make new ones."

"Lenin was the first to discover that capitalism 'inevitably' caused war; and he discovered this only when the First World War was already being fought. Of course he was right. Since every great state was capitalist in 1914."

"Madam Walker was a master marketer. But her brilliance was in taking it to another level by training women, by traveling, by making very motivational speeches and by providing independent income for women who otherwise would have to be maids and sharecroppers."

"It takes a long time, I think, to get to the place where you realize you may love the hairstyle that somebody else has."

"I hope that people will be inspired by Madam Walker's story. I hope that they will see her as a complex human being, and that they will want to dig more deeply, that they will want to know the details of her life."

"A'Lelia Walker did not subsidize specific writers, but she provided a place for all kinds of people to gather. She was one of the few blacks who had the money to allow her to entertain in the large scale."

"I'd seen how 'Green Book' had been a box-office hit, but left pianist Don Shirley's family feeling betrayed because his life and relationships had been distorted."

"As much as any woman of the twentieth century, Madam Walker paved the way for the profound social changes that altered women's place in American society."

"Why is she Mrs. C.J. Walker? It really was a matter of her trying to insist that people respect her, because during that time, white people would call any black woman 'Sally.' 'Aunt Sally.' So this was like... you can't call me that."

"A lot of people think Oprah is channeling for Madam Walker, and there are lots of parallels."

"Both my parents worked at the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company, with my dad eventually being hired by another company called Summit Laboratories that made chemical hair straighteners."

"For more than three years, I'd been part of a complex and frustrating dance as my nonfiction, fact-based material was translated from book to movie by scriptwriters whose visions, goals and sensibilities often were quite different from mine."

"My mother was the fourth generation of women to have worked with the Walker company. As a little girl, I would go to her office while she worked. She was a very capable woman."

"We buy too much stuff we just don't need. We're trying to look cute for next weekend when we ought to be thinking about the next decade."

"Madam Walker's legacy lives in her philanthropy as well as in an amazing line of hair care products."

"I love people who have really long locs. I love how they can go in different directions or pile it up into a big crown on the head."

"I know of at least two black women who are billionaires: Sheila Johnson, who co-founded BET, and Oprah Winfrey. And I know of hundreds of black women whose net worth is over $1 million."