30+ John Lothrop Motley Quotes (Scholarly, Biographer And Diplomat)

John Lothrop Motley was an American historian and diplomat. He wrote the multi-volume history The Rise of the Dutch Republic, which was published between 1856 and 1867. He was also the first United States Minister to the Austrian Empire, serving from 1861 to 1867.

Top 10 John Lothrop Motley Quotes

1. The history of the Franks becomes, therefore, the history of the Netherlands.
2. A third force, developing itself more slowly, becomes even more potent than the rest: the power of gold.
3. 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.
4. In Gaul were two orders, the nobility and the priesthood, while the people, says Caesar, were all slaves.
5. The crusades made great improvement in the condition of the serfs.
6. A soil, exhausted by the long culture of Pagan empires, was to lie fallow for a still longer period.
7. To the Calvinists, more than to any other class of men, the political liberties of Holland, England, and America are due.
8. Give us the luxuries of life, and we will dispense with its necessities.
9. A terrible animal, indeed, is an unbridled woman.
10. A good lawyer is a bad Christian.

John Lothrop Motley Short Quotes

• Wealth brings strength, strength confidence.
• The ferocious inroads of the Normans scared many weak and timid persons into servitude.
• The splendid empire of Charles the Fifth was erected upon the grave of liberty.
• Thus the whole country was broken into many shreds and patches of sovereignty.
• With the Germans, the sovereignty resided in the great assembly of the people.
• Enthusiasm could not supply the place of experience.
• The sword - the first, for a time the only force: the force of iron.
• The whole territory of the Netherlands was girt with forests.
• A talent for repartee is one that increases with practice.
• Local self-government…is the life-blood of liberty.

John Lothrop Motley Famous Quotes And Sayings

Thus again the Netherlands, for the first time since the fall of Rome, were united under one crown imperial. They had already been once united, in their slavery to Rome. — John Lothrop Motley

History shows how feeble are barriers of paper. — John Lothrop Motley

A new civilization was not to be improvised by a single mind. — John Lothrop Motley

When did one man ever civilize a people? — John Lothrop Motley

The rise of the Dutch Republic must ever be regarded as one of the leading events of modern times. — John Lothrop Motley

In the tenth century the old Batavian and later Roman forms have faded away. — John Lothrop Motley

The gigantic Gaul derided the Roman soldiers as a band of pigmies. — John Lothrop Motley

Thus the liberties of Holland and Flanders waxed, daily, stronger. — John Lothrop Motley

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

The finger of the atheists' own divinity, Reason, wrote on the wall the appalling judgments that there is no God; that the universe is only matter in spontaneous motion; and, most grievous word of all, that what men call their souls die with the death of the body, as music dies when the strings are broken. — John Lothrop Motley

Life Lessons by John Lothrop Motley

1. John Lothrop Motley's work provides valuable insight into the history of the Netherlands, as he was the first historian to write a comprehensive history of the Dutch Republic.
2. Motley's work also demonstrates the importance of rigorous research and careful analysis when studying history.
3. His work also highlights the importance of understanding the context of history and how it shapes our understanding of the past.