70 epic phrases from History (and meaning)

If we want to find advice and examples of wisdom, achievements, progress and learning after defeats, the best option is to take our internal compass to the past. History has so many anecdotes within it, that it can teach us a lot in each of its passages.

Because great and iconic characters have passed through this, whose contributions were so significant that even today they are models of admiration, respect or caution to avoid falling into the same traps that already they happened.

• It may interest you: "70 phrases about work and effort"

This only leaves us with one result: that change cannot be avoided, as it is the only way to move forward and emerge towards something better. Therefore, in this article we pay tribute to history itself with the most epic phrases that have been recorded there.

Epic quotes from history

Find out below the best epic quotes that have resonated through time and that will leave you a valuable lesson.

1. Human beings make their own history, albeit under circumstances influenced by the past. (Karl Marx)

Everything we are and do we create ourselves based on our own past.

2. You do not have to go back or to give yourself a boost (Lao Tse)

Whatever our situation, moving forward is the best option.

3. History repeats itself. That is one of the mistakes in history. (Charles Darwin)

We have always heard this, and although we know it very rarely we are able to change history.

4. Perhaps the greatest lesson in history is that no one learned the lessons of history. (Aldous Huxley)

You should not stumble twice on the same stone, but sometimes; We tripped 3 or 4.

5. Epic or heroism consists in being there, in trying. (Fernando León de Aranoa)

Effort and learning on the road to success is worth too much.

6. Success is not final, failure is not fatal: what counts is the courage to continue. (Winston Churchill)

There is nothing that is final while we are alive, so we must maintain a positive and ambitious attitude with life.

7. A historian is a prophet in reverse. (José Ortega y Gasset)

A historian is in charge of telling us about the past, to prevent it in the present and create a better future.

8. What is history? A simple fable that we have all accepted. (Napoleon Bonaparte)

We do not know if the story really was as we know it, we hardly know one version: that of the winners.

9. There is no belief, even if it is stupid, that does not gather its faithful followers who will defend it to the death. (Isaac Asimov)

Words are so powerful that even the dumbest ideas, well conveyed, can convince thousands of them to be true.

10. History is the science of what never happens twice. (Paul Valery)

Although the events may be similar, if we learn from the past, we can take a new course.

11. I often marvel that the story is so heavy, because so much of it must be pure fabrication. (Jane Austen)

The story, although heavily loaded with data, is often mere speculation and possibly many are wrong.

12. They may take our lives, but they will never take away our freedom. (William Wallace)

Nothing is more valuable than freedom to fight for what we want, and if we fight for the same freedom, even death is worth it.

13. After all, there is no history; there is only the description of life. (Ralph W. Emerson)

Descriptions can constantly be wrong or subjective, like the story.

14. Evil never goes unpunished, but sometimes the punishment is secret. (Christie Agatha)

Karma often cannot be appreciated, since not all evil is visible.

15. Evil is not something superhuman, it is something less than human. (Christie Agatha)

Humans are rational, social and thinking beings. Intentional evil lacks all logic and empathy.

16. Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world. (Nelson Mandela)

An educated person can change the world regardless of the economic class in which he is born.

17. It is one thing to continue the story and another to repeat it. (Jacinto Benavente)

In books we find the thoughts of their authors, and even if we are not reading them they are there, waiting to give us knowledge.

18. An open book is a talking brain; closed, is a friend waiting. (Hindu proverb)

Lies are so difficult to maintain that sooner or later they are discovered.

19. You can fool part of the town some of the time, but you can't fool the whole town all of the time. (Abraham Lincoln)

Poetry is a door to utopia, it beautifully does and tells what it talks about.

20. History tells what happened; poetry what had to happen. (Aristotle)

The story is based on found records, on structures that do not speak, but we do not know if what these things tell us is true.

21. History is, of course, exactly what was written, but we do not know if it is what happened. (Enrique Jardiel Poncela)

Living can be defined as the act of enjoying life.

22. The man who has lived the longest is not the one who has completed the longest, but the one who has experienced life the most (Jean Jacques Rousseau)

If there is nothing to tell, with the passage of time it is as if nothing had ever existed.

23. All countries that do not have legends are condemned to freeze to death. (Patrice De La Tour Du Pin)

Legends are part of the cultural identity of a people, it is what makes it special, it is what makes it magical.

24. Women are like tea bags. We don't know our true strength until we are in hot water. (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Women often show their mettle when under pressure, and their true strength may surprise many.

25. Nobody offers as much as the one who is not going to deliver. (Francisco de Quevedo)

Those who promise so much, exceed their own limit and deliver much less than what they offer.

26. Even the past can be modified; the historians do not stop to demonstrate it. (Jean Paul Sartre)

If the only person who knows a fact changes the way it happened, the rest will believe it.

27. History is a relentless start again. (Thucydides)

It's funny to see that sometimes the same events seem to happen over and over again. But will we take the same path?

28. Life is ten percent how we make it and ninety percent how we take it (Irving Berlin)

The perspective we have of things, the way we perceive problems is what defines where we will get.

29. What the story tells is in fact nothing more than the long, heavy and confusing dream of humanity. (Arthur Schopenhauer)

The story at the end is just possibly wrong memories of our modern society.

30. We have to be less curious about people and more curious about ideas. (Marie Curie)

By paying less attention to the appearance of the people and more to the aspect of the mind, we can move forward as a society.

31. Classes dull the mind... they take away the creative potential of the student. (John Forbes)

Although education is necessary, the educational system is not perfect and that is why we need to nourish ourselves with external information.

32. Not knowing what has happened before us is like being incessantly children. (Cicero)

Curiosity about the past always arouses in us the interest to know what happened in it.

33. History is the progress of the consciousness of freedom. (Georg Friedrich)

There is nothing more accommodating than seeing that the passage of time is synonymous with human advancement.

34. If you don't want to be lost in oblivion as soon as you are dead and corrupted, write things worth reading, or do things worth writing. (Benjamin Franklin)

Make a good impression on the world and they will remember you forever.

35. The only duty we have with history is to rewrite it. (Oscar Wilde)

Although history is our foundation, there are things that should stay there and not repeat themselves.

36. The word is the most beautiful thing that has been created, it is the most important of all that we human beings have. The word is what saves us. (Ana Maria Matute)

Through scripture, we can leave behind thousands of enduring thoughts, facts, and opinions, inspiring future generations.

37. Done is better than perfect. (Sheryl Sandberg)

Everyone has their own vision of what is perfect. It can be a good job or finish a pending matter.

38. We do not participate in the glory of our ancestors, but when we strive to resemble them. (Molière)

If you want to follow an example of a character in the story, focus on his strengths, acknowledge his faults, and enhance them.

39. Learn to live and you will know how to die well (Confucius)

Enjoy life, that way you will have no regrets.

40. People who never care about their ancestors will never look to posterity. (Edmund Burke)

We cannot be blind to the struggles of those who preceded us, because otherwise we will fall into the tendency to normalize in the present what was wrong before.

41. The way we speak to our children becomes their inner voice. (Peggy O'Mara)

That is why it is important to instill in them strength, empathy and independence. Thus they will achieve an ideal future on their own.

42. The worker has to be the owner of his effort. (Salvador Allende)

The success of your work is yours alone, because it has been you who has dedicated yourself to it.

43. History is a philosophy in examples. (Dionysus of Halicarnassus)

Good examples, bad, of overcoming, of failures, of visions. Examples that can help build tomorrow.

44. Learn as if you were going to live your whole life, and live as if you were going to die tomorrow. (Charlie Chaplin)

Life is a constant change and new discoveries that you should not miss.

45. The two most powerful warriors are patience and time. (Leo Tolstoy)

With patience you can make your time infinite for everything you want to do in it.

46. The true story is that of maxims and opinions, rather than that of wars and treaties. (Anatole France)

A good anecdote to learn is one where human things are accomplished.

47. Every day we know more and understand less (Albert Einstein)

With each new technological advance and new discoveries, we are naive creatures who must be constantly learning.

48. The most philosophical part of the story is to make known the nonsense committed by men. (Voltaire)

As incredible as it may seem, nonsense can lead to disaster.

49. There are so many things in life more important than money! But they cost so much! (Groucho Marx)

The true inner desires that we possess are sometimes impossible to make come true.

50. Not laughing at anything is stupid, laughing at everything is stupid. (Groucho Marx)

You have to know how to have a good mood with life, but also be serious when events warrant it.

51. Today's science is tomorrow's technology. (Edward Teller)

Every technological advance of the present has a history of scientific studies behind it.

52. The story is a combination of reality and lies. The reality of the story becomes a lie. The unreality of the fable becomes the truth. (Jean Cocteau)

Sometimes these 'legends' or 'conspiracies' carry more truth than written history.

53. The measure of love is to love without measure (Saint Augustine)

Loving has no limits, it is infinite and that is why it is the most precious gift.

54. Architecture is the least bribable witness in history. (Octavio Paz)

Through architecture, we can see the reality of the past as it happened.

55. Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius. (Arthur Conan Doyle)

Those who prefer to remain ignorant will never be more than sad aspirants.

56. I am thankful for everyone who said NO to me. It is for them that I do it myself. (Albert Einstein)

Sometimes failures can be our greatest motivation to emerge.

57. History is the novel of facts, and the novel is the history of feelings. (Claude A. Helvetius)

The historical facts are limited to that, to the facts. But the novels give us a glimpse of human feelings.

58. If it is good to live, it is still better to dream, and best of all, to wake up (Antonio Machado)

When we wake up, we have a new opportunity to make our dreams come true.

59. You cannot teach a man anything; You can only help him find out for himself. (Galileo)

Education only gives us an essential base to continue searching for our own knowledge.

60. Open your eyes, look inside. Are you satisfied with the life that you are living? (Bob Marley)

If you are not happy with your current life, then make the changes it needs.

61. With his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the science of adventure. (Edwin Powell Hubble)

The adventure brings us knowledge that we will not find otherwise.

62. The friend has to be like money, that before needing him, he knows the value that he has. (Socrates)

Not all the people around you are friends, even if they claim to be.

63. Education is the passport to the future, tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. (Malcolm X)

If you want to have a special future, start educating yourself today.

64. You cannot allow yourself to be disabled in spirit as well as physically. (Stephen Hawking)

If you have an obstacle that you cannot change, look at it differently and transform it into a fortress.

65. They will be able to cut off all the flowers, but they will not be able to stop spring. (Pablo Neruda)

Nature always finds a way to grow, even human.

66. Innovation distinguishes leaders from followers. (Steve Jobs)

If you have different ideas, do not be ashamed of them, as they can be your greatest virtue.

67. Knowing the truth about yourself is never the same as having to listen to it for another. (Aldous Huxley)

On many occasions we tend to lie to ourselves about our attitude, but others can see what our true nature is.

68. The secret of human existence is not only in living, but also in knowing what to live for. (Fyodor Dostoevsky)

When you have a purpose, your life becomes a certain path.

69. Do you want to be rich? Well, do not worry is to increase your goods, but to decrease your greed (Epicurus)

Wealth is not limited to how much money you have, but how much you are worth as a person.

70. If you give fish to a hungry man, you feed him for a day. If you teach him to fish, you will nurture him all his life (Lao Tse)

Help those in need, not with your charity but by teaching them to do something on their own.

What have you learned from history today?