As you know, human history is full of evil deeds, and maybe we ought to think of them with tears, not fascination.
("The Historian")
More Quotes from Elizabeth Kostova:
The thing that most haunted me that day, however...was the fact that these things had - apparently - actually occurred...For all his attention to my historical education, my father had neglected to tell me this: history's terrible moments were real. I understand now, decades later, that he could never have told me. Only history itself can convince you of such a truth. And once you've seen that truth - really seen it - you can't look away.Elizabeth Kostova
As a historian, I have learned that, in fact, not everyone who reaches back into history can survive it. And it is not only reaching back that endangers us; sometimes history itself reaches inexorably forward for us with its shadowy claws.
Elizabeth Kostova
It was strange, I reflected.. that even in the weirdest circumstances, the most troubling episodes of one's life, the greatest divides from home and familiarity, there were these moments of undeniable joy.
Elizabeth Kostova
Recently abandoned women can be complicated.
Elizabeth Kostova
For the first time, I had been struck by the excitement of the traveler who looks history in her subtle face.
Elizabeth Kostova
It was good to walk into a library again; it smelled like home.
Elizabeth Kostova
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Based on Topics: Good & Evil Quotes, History QuotesBoth my husband and I give a lot of ourselves in what we do because that is our public lives; but in my private life, I have an intrinsic right to be left alone.
Ashley Judd
Education is all a matter of building bridges.
Ralph Ellison
There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.
Aeschylus