A.J.P. Taylor Quotes

Alan John Percivale Taylor was a British historian who specialised in 19th- and 20th-century European diplomacy. Both a journalist and a broadcaster, he became well known to millions through his television lectures. His combination of academic rigour and popular appeal led the historian Richard Overy to describe him as "the Macaulay of our age".



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✵ 25. March 1906 – 7. September 1990

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A.J.P. Taylor: 15   quotes 0   likes

Famous A.J.P. Taylor Quotes

“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] 1962), Ch. 7, p. 134

“In my opinion we learn nothing from history except the infinite variety of men’s behaviour. We study it, as we listen to music or read poetry, for pleasure, not for instruction”

"The Radical Tradition: Fox, Paine, and Cobbett", p 34
The Trouble Makers: Dissent over Foreign Policy, 1792-1939 (1957)

“Like most of those who study history, he learned from the mistakes of the past how to make new ones.”

Referring to Napoleon III, in "Mistaken Lessons from the Past", The Listener (6 June 1963)

A.J.P. Taylor Quotes

“The present enables us to understand the past, not the other way round.”

Mon the Rangers
The Trouble Makers: Dissent over Foreign Policy, 1792-1939 (1957)

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

An Old Man's Diary ([1981] 1984) p. 39

“Taylor's Law states: "The Foreign Office knows no secrets."”

English History 1914 – 1945 ([1965] 1975), "Revised Bibliography", p. 730

“Why should knowledge of where I came from tell me where I am going to?”

'Moving with the Times', The Observer, 22 October 1961

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