Irwin Shaw Quotes

It's up to history to judge.

We cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves.... The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.

Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We, of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.

The eyes of all America are upon us; as we play our part … posterity will bless or curse us.

Why should I care about posterity? What's posterity ever done for me?

The true history of my administration will be written 50 years from now, and you and I will not be around to see it.

History will treat me right.

History is merely a list of surprises. It can only prepare us to be surprised yet again.

Statesmen are judged by history beyond contemporary debates.

I do not know whether I have helped or harmed my fellow citizens. History can probably be the only judge of that.

History will judge me... I shall remain silent.

You can make history, or you will be vilified by it.

We shall go down in history as the greatest statesmen of all time,or as the greatest criminals

Posterity is always just.

What are your choices? Whom are your choices for? Not just for yourself. Chose now whom you will serve, and that choice is going to affect the next generation, and the next generation, and the next. Choice never affects just one person alone. It goes on and on and the effect goes out into geography and history. You are part of history and your choices become part of history.

We are too careless of posterity; not considering that as they are, so the next generation will be.

I don't think about my legacy, if indeed, I have one.

Those who invoke history will certainly be heard by history. And they will have to accept its verdict.

History passes the final judgment.

When I'm asked about legacy, I say it's too early to talk about legacy.

When a man says he is building a house for himself and his posterity, he does not mean to be understood as saying that he has any thought of binding them, nor is it to be inferred that he is so foolish as to imagine that he has any right or power to bind them, to live in it.

In the ultimate analysis, all of us would have served Pakistan better if history and our future generations judge us positively.

Forget the historic nature of his election having to do with skin color - Obama has an opportunity offered to few presidents: the chance to set the course of the nation for decades, if not generations, to come. Who knows: perhaps in the near future, our grandchildren will spend money with Obama's face on it.

Their mothers had finally caught up to them and been proven right. There were consequences after all but they were the consequences to things you didn't even know you'd done.