Thomas Carlyle Quotes
Speech that leads not to action, still more that hinders it, is a nuisance on the earth.
Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881, Scottish essayist and historian, Member of Parliament, Letter to Jane Welsh, November 4, 1825
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
See {631935} for a similar statement 50 years later.
Explaining the secret of his oratorical success in the House of Commons:
“This” referred to the money to finance the Truman Doctrine of containment of aggressive Communism. There was already a Red Scare in the nation and Vandenberg realized that the only way his Republican Colleagues and the Conservative Democrats would appropriate the money was if there was public demand, and exaggerating the communist menace would scare the country sufficiently to move Congress. Truman took Vandenberg’s advice. On March 12, 1947, Truman delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress and did “scare hell” out of the country. The money for the Truman Doctrine came fourth.
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish historian, satirical writer, essayist, translator, philosopher, mathematician, and teacher. In his book On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and The Heroic in History (1841), he argued that the actions of the "Great Man" play a key role in history, claiming that "the history of the world is but the biography of great men". Other major works include The French Revolution: A History, 3 vols (1837) and The History of Friedrich II of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, 6 vols (1858–65).
