Quote by Thomas Babington Macaulay

Those who compare the age in which their lot has fallen with a golden age which exists only in imagination, may talk of degeneracy and decay; but no man who is correctly informed as to the past, will be disposed to take a morose or desponding view of the present.

Those who compare the age in which their lot has fallen with

Summary

This quote suggests that people who constantly compare their present time to an idealized past era of greatness tend to perceive their current age as one of decline and deterioration. However, the quote argues that those with an accurate understanding of history will not adopt a negative or gloomy perspective of the present. Instead, they will recognize that every age has its unique strengths and weaknesses, encouraging a more balanced and optimistic outlook on the contemporary world.

Topics

History

By Thomas Babington Macaulay

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

I'd like to put on buckskins and a ponytail and go underwate

I'd like to put on buckskins and a ponytail and go underwater with a reed, hiding from the Indians... To me, that's sexy!

Fashion

The eyes were damned, the staring, glaring eyes of one who s

The eyes were damned, the staring, glaring eyes of one who sees but does not see, eyes ever turned inward to the sterile hell of dreams beyond control, dreams unleashed, risen out of the stinking swamps of the unconscious.

Dreams Vision

There's a connection between the advances that are made in t

There's a connection between the advances that are made in technology and the sense of primitive fear people develop in response to it.

Fear

If a person is homosexual by nature - that is, if one's sexu

If a person is homosexual by nature - that is, if one's sexuality is as intrinsic a part of one's identity as gender or skin color - then society can no more deny a gay person access to the secular rights and religious sacraments because of his homosexuality than it can reinstate Jim Crow.

Nature

There are two times in a man's life when he should not specu

There are two times in a man's life when he should not speculate when he can't afford it, and when he can. - from Following the Equator

You don't have to fool all the people all of the time; you j

You don't have to fool all the people all of the time; you just have to fool enough to get elected.

Voting

A man's character is the reality of himself; his reputation,

A man's character is the reality of himself; his reputation, the opinion others have formed about him; character resides in him, reputation in other people; that is the substance, this is the shadow.

Henry Ward Beecher

Character

I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and

I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will hav

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Truth Love Rights

I had no doubts I could go to the pole. I may not be as stro

I had no doubts I could go to the pole. I may not be as strong, but I make up for physical strength in other areas, like steadiness and not panicking under stress.

Strength

An honest God is the noblest work of man.

An honest God is the noblest work of man.

Robert Green Ingersoll

When a man has died, he wants you to know about it.

When a man has died, he wants you to know about it.

Death