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Though the object of being a Great Power is to be able to fight a Great War, the only way of remaining a Great Power is not to fight one.

A. J. P. Taylor

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A. J. P. Taylor
Age: 84 †
Born: 1906
Born: March 25
Died: 1990
Died: September 7
Historian
Historian Of The Modern Age
Journalist
University Teacher
Alan John Percivale Taylor
Way
Objects
Fight
Though
Fighting
War
Power
Able
Remaining
Great
Object

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If there had been no troublemakers, no Dissenters, we should still be living in caves.
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American statesmen might like some Europeans more than others and even detect quaint resemblances to their own outlook but they no more committed themselves to a particular group or country than a nineteenth-century missionary committed himself to the African tribe in which he happened to find himself.
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No war is inevitable until it breaks out.
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The crusade against Communism was even more imaginary than the specter of Communism.
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The God of Battles will throw the dice that decide.
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Bismarck fought 'necessary' wars and killed thousands, the idealists of the twentieth century fight 'just' wars and kill millions.
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If men are to respect each other for what they are, they must cease to respect each other for what they own.
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Manchester has everything but good looks..., the only place in England which escapes our characteristic vice of snobbery.
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History is the great propagator of doubt.
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When I write I have no loyalty except to historical truth as I see it and care no more about British achievements and mistakes than any other.
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One of the penalties of being president of the United States is that you must subsist for four years without drinking anything except Californian wine.
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Like most of those who study history, he (Napoleon III) learned from the mistakes of the past how to make new ones.
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No matter what political reasons are given for war, the underlying reason is always economic.
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A racing tipster who only reached Hitler's level of accuracy would not do well for his clients.
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Freedom does not always win. This is one of the bitterest lessons of history.
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History is not another name for the past, as many people imply. It is the name for stories about the past.
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In my opinion, most of the great men of the past were only there for the beer - the wealth, prestige and grandeur that went with the power.
A. J. P. Taylor
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If there had been a strong democratic sentiment in Germany, Hitler would never have come to power . [Germans] deserved what they got when they went round crying for a hero.
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George VI in the conventional parlance was a Good King who sacrificed his life to his sense of duty. If we are to have monarchs it would be hard to find a better one.
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History gets thicker as it approaches recent times: more people, more events, and more books written about them. More evidence is preserved, often, one is tempted to say, too much. Decay and destruction have hardly begun their beneficent work.
A. J. P. Taylor