Theodore Zeldin > Quotes

“life could have been different if the meetings which have decided its course had been less silent, superficial or routine, if more thoughts had been exchanged, if humanity had been more able to show itself in them”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“To be a catalyst is the ambition most appropriate for those who see the world as being in constant change, and who, without thinking that they control it, wish to influence its direction.”
― Theodore Zeldin

“...literature must always be about gloom of one sort or another, on the principal that there is nothing interesting to be said about happy people.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“The brain is full of lonely ideas, begging you to make some sense of them, to recognize them as interesting. The lazy brain just files them away in old pigeonholes, like a bureaucrat who wants an easy life. The lively brain picks and chooses and creates new works of art out of ideas.”
― Theodore Zeldin

“I particularly value conversations which are meetings on the borderline of what I understand and what I don't, with people who are different from myself.”
― Theodore Zeldin

“Each civilization, each nation, each family, each profession, each sex and each class has its own history. Humans have so far been interested mainly in their own private roots, and have therefore never claimed the whole of the inheritance into which they were born, the legacy of everybody’s past experience. Each generation searches only for what it thinks it lacks, and recognizes only what it knows already.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“The Renaissance… was based on a new idea of the importance of the individual. But this was a fragile foundation, because individuals depended on constant applause and admiration to sustain them. There is a shortage of applause in the world, and there is not enough respect to go around.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“The fear of loneliness has been like a ball and chain restraining ambition, as much of an obstacle to a full life as persecution, discrimination or poverty. Until the chain is broken, freedom, for many, will remain a nightmare.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“...literature must always be about gloom of one sort or another, on the principle that there is nothing interesting to be said about happy people.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“The world is filled with polite, shy, inscrutable, unintelligible, tight lipped, superficial, dishonest and also honest people who for one reason or another do not say what they think. The search for freedom of speech has barely begun. Many do not reveal their thoughts because they are not sure what they think. Many would be braver in their speech if they were more certain of a sympathetic hearing. Many, particularly in places where success depends on conformity, are schooled to be hypocrites. The hidden thoughts in other people’s heads are the great darkness that surrounds us.”
― Theodore Zeldin, The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future

“Everybody’s style of speaking is a mixture of echoes dating from different epochs of the past: hers recalls the prudent and modest civil servants of the last century who were proud that they represented the state and who took care not to compromise themselves by saying the wrong thing.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“To ignore what cannot be measured in precise numbers is like counting the stems in a bouquet of flowers while ignoring the indescribable perfume and beauty of each bud.”
― Theodore Zeldin, The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future

“television wears away the capacity to be astonished’.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“A dream is what makes people love life even when it is painful.”
― Theodore Zeldin

“Ekonomik gelişme, refah ürettiği kadar sefalet de doğurmuştur her zaman. İnsanların çoğunluğunun yoksul olmadığı dönem ne zamandı? Bazıları eskisinden daha az yoksul hale gelse de sefaleti bitirmeye yönelik tüm girişimler başarısız kaldı. Para icat oldu olalı hiçbir zaman herkesin istediğini veya ihtiyaç duyduğunu almasına yetecek kadar olmadı. Yeterince para hiçbir zaman var olamaz.”
― Theodore Zeldin, The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future

“Düşünceler kendi haline bırakıldığında öksüz ve topal kalır. Ancak etkileşimle verimli kılındığında başkaları için de anlamlı hale gelir. Tarih boyunca odaklanılan nokta, boş olduğu varsayılan kafalara alışılagelmiş fikirleri işlemek olmuştur; ancak fikir üretmenin aşk yapmaya benzediği anlaşılamamıştır. Fikirler öylece yüklenemez insana. Her bireyin, emdiği bilgiyi şekillendiren kendine özgü duyguları ve hatıraları vardır. Ve fikirler, birçok farklı türde fikirle karşılaşana kadar kendi değerlerini bilemez. Dünyanın kafasında sakladığı düşünceler, seçimlerde ve anketlerde yalnızca çok yüzeysel olarak yansır. Yalnızca küçük bir azınlığın fikirlerinin bir parçası medyada veya kitaplarda yayımlanır. Dindeki ve psikiyatrideki günah çıkarma kesinlikle özel kalır. Ulusların, sınıfların ve grupların alışkanlıklarına ve zihniyetlerine dair yapılan çalışmalar, sıra dışı bireylerin aklından geçenleri pek de yansıtmaz.”
― Theodore Zeldin, The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future

“And what does Juliette think about at work? ‘Why, nothing. At work I don’t think, or I think about my saucepans.’ Work is relaxation from home.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“Din eskiden şiirseldi. Ancak baskılar altında nesre dönüştü. Bilimle aynı boks ringine girdiğini düşündü ve tanınmaz hale geldi.”
― Theodore Zeldin, The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future

“Art is, nowadays, our new religion and museums are our cathedrals”
― Theodore Zeldin

“I have chosen to write about women, because I am not one myself, and because I have always preferred to write about subjects which do not tempt me to be so arrogant as to believe that I can ever fully understand them, but above all because many women seem to me to be looking at life with fresh eyes, and their autobiographies, in various forms, are the most original part of contemporary literature”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“Самой давней целью человечества было воспроизводство человечества в бóльших объемах. Когда-то это означало иметь как можно больше детей. Но со временем важнее стало не количество
детей, а проявляемая к ним доброта. Сегодня идеал человечества —
это прежде всего идеал человечности, заботы и доброты, актуальный на все времена и для каждого живого существа. Первые отголоски этого исторического сдвига звучали много веков назад,
но сейчас он охватил значительную часть мира.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“Aşırı dindarlık, iki farklı şekilde çıkar karşımıza; birincisinde dünyadan günahı silmeyi amaçlayarak kendi fikirlerini herkese empoze etmeye çalışır; diğerinde ise tehlikeli etkilerden arınmış, içine kapalı bir varoluşa ulaşabilmek için kendini dünyanın günahkarlığından uzaklaştırır.”
― Theodore Zeldin, The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future

“Karşılıklı hoşgörü değilse bile karşılıklı bilgi, sözde medeniyetler çatışmasına verilecek bir cevaptır; ancak aslında cevabın yarısı, hatta üçte biridir. Çünkü bilgi her zaman şüphe ve belirsizlik yüzünden sınırlanır ve şüphe duymak da tatmin edici bir sanata dönüştürülememiştir henüz. Ve bilgi, tıpkı yemek gibi, kimin pişirdiğine, nasıl servis edildiğine ve yiyecek kişinin öncesinde neler yediğine bağlı olarak farklı bir lezzete ve görünüme bürünür. Bilgi, çiğ değildir hiçbir zaman. Bilgiyi pişirmek ve yemek belki de tüm sanatların en zorudur.”
― Theodore Zeldin, The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future

“The vast majority of scientists devote a large part of their efforts to writing articles which are never read.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“My heart is open to all the winds: It is a pasture for gazelles And a home for Christian monks, A temple for idols, The Black Stone of the Mecca pilgrim, The table of the Torah, And the book of the Koran. Mine is the religion of love. Wherever God’s caravans turn, The religion of love Shall be my religion And my faith.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“A new way of looking is needed in a world which believes that every individual has a right to flower, within limits, in his or her own way.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“Anlamak, anlaşmazlığı ortadan kaldırmaz, ama anlaşmazlığı zenginlik veren bir deneyime dönüştürür; insanda, insanlığın çeşitliliğinin gizemli dünyasına kabul edildiğine ve yalnızca kısmen yaşıyor olmaktan kurtulabileceğine dair bir his yaratır.”
― Theodore Zeldin, The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future

“Die verborgenen Gedanken in den Köpfen der Anderen sind das große Dunkel, das uns umgibt.”
― Theodore Zeldin, The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future

“Everything that is remembered about the past is washed, and often drowned, in nostalgia, pride, illusions and passions of all kinds.”
― Theodore Zeldin, An Intimate History of Humanity

“Tüm cevapları bulmak gibi beklentisi olmayan sonsuz bir yola koyulmak, belirli bir hedefe doğru yolculuk yapmaktan daha ufuk açıcı olmuştur her zaman; çünkü böylelikle önceden belirlenmiş hedeflerden çok daha tatmin edici yan yollara sapma özgürlüğü kalır insanın.”
― Theodore Zeldin, The Hidden Pleasures of Life: A New Way of Remembering the Past and Imagining the Future