Quotes of: Natural-history Keyword

You have a history of starving yourself," he says gently. I lift my head. I meet his gaze. "I have a history that I don't like to talk about.

Charm & Strange

History as well as life itself is complicated -- neither life nor history is an enterprise for those who seek simplicity and consistency.

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

At this time to refuse or neglect to give coffee to their wives was a legitimate cause for divorce among the Turks." William H. Ukers (1873-1945).

The Devil's Cup: A History of the World According to Coffee

Never underestimate spite as a motivator for genius.

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements

You can't do much for the poor, as they are not in with the right people.

The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody: Great Figures of History Hilariously Humbled

The real origin of the democratic spirit - and most likely, many democratic institutions - lies precisely in those spaces of improvisation just outside the control of governments and organized churches.

The Democracy Project: A History, a Crisis, a Movement

We are graced with a godlike ability to transcend time and space in our minds but are chained to death.

Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Reason

The culture of the Epic Fail, in its rituals of comic sacrifice, is a culture of sublimated predation.

Epic Fail: Bad Art, Viral Fame, and the History of the Worst Thing Ever

America's civilization perturbs the trajectories of all other civilizations just by existing.

Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History: 1585-1828

The cornerstone of the Roman legionnaires' astonishing fighting spirit can be attributed to their training.

The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians

The factor that made him so powerful was also his greatest liability.

The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians

The only real recourse that [Russian] people had against tsarist rule was violence and rebellion. It was once remarked that Russia's constitution was "absolutism moderated by assassination.

False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World

I picked up my camera and held it at arm's length and took a picture of myself not caring. I called it: Glory Doesn't Care.

Glory O'Brien's History of the Future

You can deal with the brain, as I say; it looks sensible, whereas the heart, the human heart, I'm afraid, looks a fucking mess.

A History of the World in 10½ Chapters

It is not enough that your designs, nay that your actions, are intrinsically good, you must take care they shall appear so.

The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

During the first millennium BCE, even the beer-loving Mesopotamians turned their backs on beer, which was dethroned as the most cultured and civilized of drinks, and the age of wine began.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses

But [Coca-Cola] was also genuinely welcomed by the servicemen in far-flung military bases: Coca-Cola reminded them of home and helped to maintain morale.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses

An enormous semiofficial drug-smuggling operation was established in order to improve Britain's unfavorable balance of payments with China—the direct result of the British love of tea.

A History of the World in 6 Glasses

Resistances do not derive from a few heterogeneous principles; but neither are they a lure or a promise that is of necessity betrayed. They are the odd term in relations of power; they are inscribed in the latter as an irreducible opposite.

The History of Sexuality 1: An Introduction

Koch's youthful idealism about libertarianism had largely devolved into a rationale for corporate self-interest.

Born in Blood & Fire: A Concise History of Latin America

Was that what it meant to be alive - moving from a brightly lit corridor into a darkened room at every step? Sometimes it felt that way.

The Brief History of the Dead