“The history of the world is but the biography of great men.”

—  Thomas Carlyle

1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Divinity

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The history of the world is but the biography of great men." by Thomas Carlyle?
Thomas Carlyle photo
Thomas Carlyle 481
Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian… 1795–1881

Related quotes

D. V. Gundappa photo

“Reading biographies of great men would shape the life of the youth.”

D. V. Gundappa (1887–1975) Indian writer

In page=22
D.V. Gundappa,Sahitya Akademi

Andrew Dickson White photo

“Carlyle uttered a pregnant truth when he said that the history of any country is in the biographies of the men who made it.”

Andrew Dickson White (1832–1918) American politician

Source: Seven Great Statesmen in the Warfare of Humanity with Unreason (1915), p. ix

Thomas Carlyle photo

“History is the essence of innumerable biographies.”

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher

On History.
1820s, Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827–1855)

Jordan Peterson photo

“History is the biography of the human race.”

Jordan Peterson (1962) Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology

Other

Ralph Waldo Emerson photo

“There is properly no history; only biography.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

1840s, Essays: First Series (1841), History

John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton photo

“The early history of the world is the history of a few great men. Their Wirkungskreis is immense—vaster than that of God himself.”

John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton (1834–1902) British politician and historian

Private notes, quoted in Herbert Butterfield, ‘Acton: His Training, Methods and Intellectual System’, in A. O. Sarkissian (ed.), Studies in Diplomatic History and Historiography in honour of G. P. Gooch, C.H. (1961), p. 194
Undated

Benjamin Disraeli photo

“Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.”

Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister

Part 1, Chapter 23.
Books, Coningsby (1844), Contarini Fleming (1832)

Joseph Campbell photo

“Wherever the poetry of myth is interpreted as biography, history, or science, it is killed.”

Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) American mythologist, writer and lecturer

Source: The Hero With a Thousand Faces

Ralph Waldo Emerson photo

“Great geniuses have the shortest biographies.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

Plato; or, The Philosopher
1850s, Representative Men (1850)

Related topics