“We sometimes imagine, under the influence of Spenglerian philosophy or some other kind of "historical morphology," that we live in a similar age [to the Romans], the last witnesses of a condemned civilization. But condemned by whom? Not by God, but by some supposed "historical laws." For although we do not know any historical laws, we are in fact able of inventing them quite freely, and such laws, once invented, can then be realized in the form of self-fulfilling prophecies.”

The Fantastic Imagination (1893)

Speech to Justice, London (28 June 1977), quoted in The Times (29 June 1977), p. 4

On History (1904)
1900s
Context: It is true that numerous instances are not always necessary to establish a law, provided the essential and relevant circumstances can easily be disentangled. But, in history, so many circumstances of a small and accidental nature are relevant, that no broad and simple uniformities are possible. Where our main endeavour is to discover general laws, we regard these as intrinsically more valuable than any of the facts which they inter-connect. In astronomy, the law of gravitation is plainly better worth knowing than the position of a particular planet on a particular night, or even on every night throughout a year. There are in the law a splendour and simplicity and sense of mastery which illuminate a mass of otherwise uninteresting details... But in history the matter is far otherwise... Historical facts, many of them, have an intrinsic value, a profound interest on their own account, which makes them worthy of study, quite apart from any possibility of linking them together by means of causal laws.

Pages 117-118
Post-Presidency, Our Endangered Values (2005)

The Fantastic Imagination (1893)
Context: Some thinkers would feel sorely hampered if at liberty to use no forms but such as existed in nature, or to invent nothing save in accordance with the laws of the world of the senses; but it must not therefore be imagined that they desire escape from the region of law. Nothing lawless can show the least reason why it should exist, or could at best have more than an appearance of life.

Introduction, Lesson I: Definition and Sphere of the Science.
Elementary Lessons on Logic (1870)

On the carbon emissions of post-industrial nations compared to India's, as quoted in " India says rich world has responsibility to curb climate change http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL5N10Z08A20150824", Reuters (24 August 2015)

(1974, opposing détente) " CNN Cold War http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/16/script.html", Episode 16: Détente, Episode Script. Retrieved June 2, 2006.