Henry Adams Quotes

Some day science may have the existence of mankind in power, and the human race can commit suicide by blowing up the world.

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell wher... -Henry Adams

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.

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This quote emphasizes the enduring impact of teachers on their students' lives. A teacher's influence goes beyond the immediate moment and can leave a lasting mark on the personal and intellectual growth of their students, even shaping their future decisions and achievements.

The effect of power and publicity on all men is the aggravation of self, a sort of tumor that ends by killing the victim's sympathies.

I am an anarchist in politics and an impressionist in art as well as a symbolist in literature. Not that I understand what these terms mean, but I take them to be all merely synonyms of pessimist.

Accident counts for as much in companionship as in... -Henry Adams

Accident counts for as much in companionship as in marriage.

The Indian Summer of life should be a little sunny and a little sad, like the season, and infinite in wealth and depth of tone, but never hustled.

No man likes to have his intelligence or good faith questioned, especially if he has doubts about it himself.

Everyone carries his own inch rule of taste, and amuses himself by applying it, triumphantly, wherever he travels.

He too serves a certain purpose who only stands an... -Henry Adams

He too serves a certain purpose who only stands and cheers.

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The quote suggests that even those who passively support or cheer for political figures or movements serve a purpose by contributing to the overall atmosphere and dynamics of politics.

It is impossible to underrate human intelligence -... -Henry Adams

It is impossible to underrate human intelligence - beginning with one's own.

Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of inert facts.

Practical politics consists in ignoring facts.

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The quote humorously implies that practical politics often involves disregarding or downplaying factual information, suggesting that political decision-making is not solely based on objective truths.

Friends are born, not made.

Knowledge of human nature is the beginning and end... -Henry Adams

Knowledge of human nature is the beginning and end of political education.

Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.

Discovering the context

This quote suggests that periods of chaos or disruption can sometimes give rise to new opportunities or vitality, while excessive order or stability may lead to stagnation or complacency. It implies a recognition of the transformative potential of chaos and the need for a balance between order and flexibility in promoting growth and progress.

All experience is an arch, to build upon.

There is no such thing as an underestimate of aver... -Henry Adams

There is no such thing as an underestimate of average intelligence.

Politics, as a practise, whatever its professions, has always been the systematic organization of hatreds.

Chaos was the law of nature; Order was the dream o... -Henry Adams

Chaos was the law of nature; Order was the dream of man.

One friend in a lifetime is much, two are many, three are hardly possible. Friendship needs a certain parallelism of life, a community of thought, a rivalry of aim.

The progress of evolution from President Washington to President Grant was alone evidence to upset Darwin.

Henry Adams Quotes

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