Timothy D. Snyder Quotes

The critic should describe, and not prescribe.

History is not only the record of the past, but also the discipline of investigating and interpreting the past. The study of history develops habits of critical thinking and effective writing, as well as cultivates the careful analysis of various types of quantitative and qualitative evidence.

Whether it's a computer or a pen drawing, design is about drawing shapes and making physical things.

I think that just because you've been through an experience doesn't make you the ultimate arbiter of what it means. We figure things out; we work things out through the help of other people who can engage with us but also be intelligently critical.

Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.

The learner always begins by finding fault, but the scholar sees the positive merit in everything.

The good critic is he who relates the adventures of his soul among masterpieces.

We can be critical of the things that we love. That is possible.

Think of and look at your work as though it were done by your enemy. I you look at it to admire it, you are lost.

As a historian, what I trust is my ability to take a mass of information and tell a story shaped around it.

I'm inspired by many things, from landscapes to textiles. Art and architecture always influence my design process.

The ultimate court of appeal is observation and experiment... not authority.

I really like watching myself a lot because it gives me an opportunity to see it from outside the flesh, and when I view it like that, I can be a lot more cynical and see the things that need to be attacked.

Critics reach that age when it is as valuable and daring to hold a negative opinion as it is for a positive. We learn and understand from both.

Well, it seems to me a scientist has need for both vision and confidence.

Graphic design is the paradise of individuality, eccentricity, heresy, abnormality, hobbies and humors.

A good designer has a lot in common with a good researcher. Both hunt for excellence and perfection. And you have to really focus on the details, and you don't really know what the final result will be before you have it.

Science has not been successful by making up explanations of things that fit with the current social fabric.

No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.

If we bring not the good courage of minds covetous of truth, and truth only, prepared to hear all things, and decide upon all things, according to evidence, we should do more wisely to sit down contented in ignorance, than to bestir ourselves only to reap disappointment.

I love design.

Everybody is entitled to have an opinion. But it is also useful to have some facts.

The historian must walk a fine line between scientific detachment and humanistic engagement.

During a fashion show, I want the clothes to speak. The effort I put into my work must be respected.

I love using color.