Gerd von Rundstedt Quotes

Either you make history or you will be history.

You either make history or you don't.

The main thing is to make history, not to write it.

I'm honored that I'm in history, but I don't think it would mean anything if it doesn't change anything.

Whatever we do or fail to do will influence the course of history.

History is simply a piece of paper covered with print; the main thing is still to make history, not to write it.

Making history does not necessarily change history.

Events are as much the parents of the future as they were the children of the past.

No generation can escape history.

There were people in the South who were ardently opposed to slavery. And maybe, if we get into truth and reconciliation, those will be the people we want to name schools and streets after.

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

We must act to shape and mold the future, and leave our imprint on events as they slip past into history.

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

Hitlers come and go, but Germany and the German people remain.

The hero is known for achievements; the celebrity for well-knowns. The hero reveals the possibilities of human nature. The celebrity reveals the possibilities of the press and media. Celebrities are people who make news, but heroes are people who make history. Time makes heroes but dissolves celebrities.

Now the 21st century approaches and with it the inevitability of change. We must wonder if the American people will find renewal and rejuvenation within themselves, will discover again their capacity for innovation and adaptation. If not, alas, the nation's future will be shaped by sightless forces of history over which Americans will have no control.

A few people have said that I should change my name and the spelling so that people can say it, but I don't want to, I like it the way it is.

I am a part of history whether people want to take it seriously or not.

You want to be a part of something that is going to change history or make history or be bigger than yourself.

Write to register history, and name each thing. Write what should not be forgotten.

The truth was, history repeated itself on a daily basis; mistakes were made over and over. People were haunted by what they had done, and by what they hadn't had time to do.

The past is our treasure. Its works, whether we know them or not, flourish in our lives with whatever strength they had. From it we draw provision for our journey, the collected wisdom whose harvests are all ours to reap and carry with us, though we may never live again in the fields that grew them.

Because as tough as things have been, I am convinced you are tougher. I've seen your passion and I've seen your service... I've seen a generation eager, impatient even, to step into the rushing waters of history and change its course.

Name none of the fallen, for they stand in our place, and stand there still in each moment of our lives. Let my death hold no glory, and let me die forgotten and unknown. Let it not be said that I was one among the dead to accuse the living.

The people in Coming of Age were far less curmudgeonly than you would think. The greater percentage said that without the young we'd be lost. One woman, a former Southern belle, now 87, a philanthropist, says, "Well, these young, their history's been stolen from them. And what have we done to make them respect us?"