Joseph J. Ellis quotes
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“[quoting someone else] the American constitution is a document designed by geniuses to be eventually interpreted by idiots”
-- Joseph J. Ellis -
“Lincoln once said that America was founded on a proposition that was written by Jefferson in 1776. We are really founded on an argument about what that proposition means.”
-- Joseph J. EllisSource : Joseph J. Ellis (2003). “Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation”, p.16, Vintage
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“I would say readers can trust my work more than anyone else's.”
-- Joseph J. Ellis -
“And the only thing to do with a sin is to confess, do penance and then, after some kind of decent interval, ask for forgiveness.”
-- Joseph J. Ellis -
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“Even in the best of lives, mistakes are made.”
-- Joseph J. EllisSource : "Interests: charity work, skydiving" by Oliver Burkeman, www.theguardian.com. August 7, 2001.
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“Washington's task was to transform the improbable into the inevitable.”
-- Joseph J. Ellis -
“Some models of self-control are able to achieve their serenity easily because the soul fires never burn brightly to begin with.”
-- Joseph J. Ellis -
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“To my three sons, Peter, Scott, and Alexander who pulled me from the 18th Century and back into the present on a regular basis and therefore made me a better person, thank you. And to my wife, who sits at the table there. Who is right about almost everything.”
-- Joseph J. Ellis -
“Chronology, so the saying goes, is the last refuge of the feeble-minded and the only resort for historians.”
-- Joseph J. Ellis -
“Because he could not afford to fail, he could not afford to trust.”
-- Joseph J. EllisSource : Joseph J. Ellis (2004). “His Excellency: George Washington”, p.41, Vintage
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“I deeply regret having let stand and later confirming the assumption that I went to Vietnam. For this and any other distortions about my personal life, I want to apologize to my family, friends, colleagues and students. Beyond that circle, however, I shall have no further comment.”
-- Joseph J. EllisSource : "Historian fakes his own history" by Julian Borger, www.theguardian.com. June 19, 2001.
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