John Lothrop Motley Quotes

The history of the Franks becomes, therefore, the history of the Netherlands.

A third force, developing itself more slowly, becomes even more potent than the rest: the power of gold.

Monuments! what are they? the very pyramids have forgotten their builders, or to whom they were dedicated. Deeds, not stones, are the true monuments of the great.

In Gaul were two orders, the nobility and the priesthood, while the people, says Caesar, were all slaves.

The crusades made great improvement in the condition of the serfs.

A soil, exhausted by the long culture of Pagan empires, was to lie fallow for a still longer period.

Thus the whole country was broken into many shreds and patches of sovereignty.

A good lawyer is a bad Christian.

To the Calvinists, more than to any other class of men, the political liberties of Holland, England, and America are due.

Enthusiasm could not supply the place of experience.

Give us the luxuries of life, and we will dispense with its necessities.

When did one man ever civilize a people?

The splendid empire of Charles the Fifth was erected upon the grave of liberty.

A new civilization was not to be improvised by a single mind.

The ferocious inroads of the Normans scared many weak and timid persons into servitude.

A terrible animal, indeed, is an unbridled woman.

Wealth brings strength, strength confidence.

In the tenth century the old Batavian and later Roman forms have faded away.

You will find most books worth reading are worth reading twice.

History shows how feeble are barriers of paper.

For a century longer, Rome still retains its outward form, but the swarming nations are now in full career.

A talent for repartee is one that increases with practice.

Local self-government…is the life-blood of liberty.

Monuments! what are they? the very pyramids have forgotten their builders or to whom they were dedicated. Deeds not stones are the true monuments of the great.