Martin Van Creveld Quotes

I wouldn't go as far to say that anything that I've done is timeless.

I don't actually think about going down in history.

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

With sincere modesty, if there is such a thing, I have never thought of legacy at all. I am always grateful if people like what I have done. A legacy is something no one can forsee.

I don't have a big thing about leaving my mark or being historic.

I sensed that Confucius is an interesting character. This is someone who lived over 2,500 years ago and is still speaking to us. That people are still reading and repeating what he said so long ago is something I find quite fascinating.

We shall all die, and our lives will be irrelevant then. If we make anything that lasts, it outlives us, and it outlives its personal moment. All of my work is deep-dug from me, and every book has to stand or fall without me.

I am quite content to go down to posterity as a scissors and paste man for that seems to me a harsh but not unjust description

I did once answer the question 'What would you say on your tombstone?' I know what I would say: 'Mario Cuomo, 1932 - dash,' and, 'He tried.' That's it.

I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments.

I don't think I've done any profound work yet... People ask me, 'How would you want to be remembered?' I tell them I don't want to be remembered! I'm not here to become a Madhubala or receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. I'm not that kind of a person. And I'm not brash about it; it's just the way I am.

My wish is to be known only thru my work.

It's humbling and enthralling to know your legacy when you're alive.

No man is truly great who is great only in his lifetime. The test of greatness is the page of history.

Authors want their names down in history; I want to keep the smoke coming out of the chimney.

You're presuming too much by using the word legacy - presuming that someone is going to care.

I'm always happy to be a part of history. When you're a part of history, you live forever. 'The T.A.M.I. Show' will live forever because now it's brand new. We did that 40-odd years ago, and people are really starting to see it now. I was a part of history when I recorded that show.

The great thing about a painter is that he or she lives on - I mean, Andrew Wyeth is more in his paintings than he was walking around.

The work that lasts over time is the work which still speaks to us when all contemporary interest in that work is extinct.

When I'm dead, I wanna leave a body of work, like authors or great painters do.

I am aware of the words 'national treasure' being attached to me occasionally. It just makes me feel old.

I want them to forget me.

Things written, remain.

I'd wish for my work to be remembered rather than myself.

I've made my stamp on the earth. My name will go down in history, and if I never want to work again, I don't have to.