History books
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"The NASA managers and astronauts alike were in the grip of what they would later recognize as “‘Go’ Fever”—the desperate drive to push on toward a launch..."
"Between 1942 and 1944, an estimated six tons of dental gold were deposited in the vaults of the Reichsbank."
"The world’s chip industry, as well as the assembly of all the electronic goods chips enable, depends more on the Taiwan Strait and the South China coast than on any other chunk of the world’s territory except Silicon Valley."
"The universe is vast and varied, daily forcing scientists to confront, accommodate, measure, and analyze the diversity of all that’s out there."
"With its high profits and bifurcated labor force, California modeled capitalist discipline for the nation."
"The world of the past few decades has been the best it will ever be in our lifetime. Instead of cheap and better and faster, we’re rapidly transitioning into a world that’s pricier and worse and slower. Because the world—our world—is breaking apart."
"Venezuela falls always into the same trap, opting for the strongman, the caudillo, a savior on a white horse."
"There are three things that create a reserve currency: a strong economy, a strong military, and an open capital account. The United States has all three, but its relative position is declining, while China's is rising."
"In the age of AI, the most valuable commodity will be data, and those who control it will hold enormous power."
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"The world has made spectacular progress in every single measure of human well-being."
"The ability to make connections across disciplines—arts and sciences, humanities and technology —is a key to innovation, imagination, and genius."
"I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills."
"The Blank Slate is the denial of the deep roots of human nature. It is the idea that we are all born as blank slates, but that society can mold us into whatever it wants us to be."
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"How do you cause people to believe in an imagined order such as Christianity, democracy or capitalism? First, you never admit that the order is imagined."
"Every atom you possess has almost certainly passed through several stars and been part of millions of organisms on its way to becoming you."
"We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special."
"The Blitz was not just a battle of bombs and buildings; it was a battle of wills, a test of endurance, a clash of values."
"It is a story of violent conquest and occupation; of conspiracies against slavery and colonialism; of revolutions attempted, victorious, and undone."
"It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."
"Tencent's founder, Pony Ma, has always been focused on the long-term, and he has consistently invested in new technologies and industries with an eye towards the future."
"Innovation requires a long-term perspective and a willingness to invest in research and development, even when the benefits may not be immediate."
"No other country has been so divided over its own beginnings. None has changed its story so often. The subject is inseparable from myth."
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science."
"History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples' environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves."
"Science made the bomb possible, but it was politics that brought it into existence."
"The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."
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"War brings out the worst and the best in human nature."
"The Andes taught us that even in the bleakest of circumstances, there is always hope."
"The tunnels were dug with primitive tools, but they represented the prisoners' sophisticated resolve."
"The relationship between democracy and capitalism has always been uneasy, yet it is the balance between the two that has driven progress."
"The Academy Awards are as much about politics and power as they are about artistry and talent."
"The Met is more than a museum; it is a living, breathing testament to the enduring power of beauty."
"People who climb mountains are like artists—obsessive, driven, and slightly mad."
"The power of the human spirit can conquer even the strongest of prisons."
"The courtier's ultimate goal is to win the monarch's favor, but this can be a fickle thing. One day you're in, and the next day you're out."
"Black ops is a game of chess played in the shadows, where the board is the world and the stakes are life and death."
"Josephine Baker's story is a testament to the power of the human spirit and the capacity for one person to make a difference in the world."
"When people display such rare physical gifts, there is a tendency to lift them into the realm of the superhuman, as if human magnificence is insufficient."
"From an insurgent underdog in entertainment, a money pit, something of a joke, YouTube had become one of the most dominant, influential, untamed, and successful media businesses on the planet."
"This, rather, is the story of how the concept of the cell, and our comprehension of cellular physiology, altered medicine, science, biology, social structures, and culture."
"Nothing will ever undo the harm that George Tyndall inflicted on his patients, much of it life-altering for the women. But more than $1.1 billion in settlements brought them a measure of justice."
"The men and women who built the PLM were ordinary people: migrants, exiles, and citizens; farmworkers, sharecroppers, miners, and intellectuals. Most of all, they were rebels."
"Queen Elizabeth II has become grandmother to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. The longest-serving monarch in history has devoted herself to her family, her people, and the wider family of nations.”