2013, Brandenburg Gate Speech (June 2013)
Context: The wall belongs to history. But we have history to make as well. And the heroes that came before us now call to us to live up to those highest ideals -- to care for the young people who can't find a job in our own countries, and the girls who aren't allowed to go to school overseas; to be vigilant in safeguarding our own freedoms, but also to extend a hand to those who are reaching for freedom abroad. This is the lesson of the ages. This is the spirit of Berlin. And the greatest tribute that we can pay to those who came before us is by carrying on their work to pursue peace and justice not only in our countries but for all mankind.
“It is not heroes that make history, but history that makes heroes.”
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Joseph Stalin 95
General secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 1879–1953Related quotes
Thomas Cromwell — quoted in Alison Weir (1991). The Six Wives of Henry VIII. ISBN 0802136834, p. 197
The Lady of Moge (p. 183)
Short fiction, Orsinian Tales (1976)
“History is moving pretty quickly these days, and the heroes and villains keep on changing parts.”
Variant: History is moving pretty quickly these days and the heroes and villains keep on changing parts.
Source: Casino Royale
“History, like love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of imaginary brightness.”
Source: The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Ch. 18
“It is surmounting difficulties that makes heroes.”
Lajos Kossuth (also known as Louis Kossoth), as quoted in Human Development in Action (1942) by University of California, and The Forbes Book of Business Quotations (1997) by Edward C. Goodman and Ted Goodman.
Misattributed
“Wars do not make heroes of everyone.”
Source: Briar Rose (1992), Chapter 25 (p. 146)
President Bill Clinton — reported in Seth Borenstein (July 23, 1998) "Astronaut Filled America's Need for a Space Hero", Detroit Free Press, p. 1A.
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In conversation: Joanne Freeman on Alexander Hamilton the man and 'Hamilton' the musical https://news.yale.edu/2016/08/11/conversation-joanne-freeman-alexander-hamilton-man-and-hamilton-musical
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 61