Joseph J. Ellis famous quotes

Last updated: Sep 5, 2024

[quoting someone else] the American constitution is a document designed by geniuses to be eventually interpreted by idiots
-- Joseph J. Ellis

#Genius #Constitution #Idiot
Lincoln once said that America was founded on a proposition that was written by Jefferson in 1776. We are really founded on an argument about what that proposition means.
-- Joseph J. Ellis

#Mean #America #Argument
I would say readers can trust my work more than anyone else's.
-- Joseph J. Ellis

#Reader
And the only thing to do with a sin is to confess, do penance and then, after some kind of decent interval, ask for forgiveness.
-- Joseph J. Ellis

#Penance #Kind #Sin
I believe I am an honorable man.
-- Joseph J. Ellis

#Believe #Men #I Believe
Even in the best of lives, mistakes are made.
-- Joseph J. Ellis

#Mistake #Made #Life Mistakes
Washington's task was to transform the improbable into the inevitable.
-- Joseph J. Ellis

#Tasks #Inevitable
Some models of self-control are able to achieve their serenity easily because the soul fires never burn brightly to begin with.
-- Joseph J. Ellis

#Fire #Self #Serenity
To my three sons, Peter, Scott, and Alexander who pulled me from the 18th Century and back into the present on a regular basis and therefore made me a better person, thank you. And to my wife, who sits at the table there. Who is right about almost everything.
-- Joseph J. Ellis

#Thank You #Son #Wife
Chronology, so the saying goes, is the last refuge of the feeble-minded and the only resort for historians.
-- Joseph J. Ellis

#History #Lasts #Chronology
Because he could not afford to fail, he could not afford to trust.
-- Joseph J. Ellis

#Pride #Failing
I deeply regret having let stand and later confirming the assumption that I went to Vietnam. For this and any other distortions about my personal life, I want to apologize to my family, friends, colleagues and students. Beyond that circle, however, I shall have no further comment.
-- Joseph J. Ellis

#Regret #Circles #Vietnam

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