happy is the country which has no history
- happy is the country which has no history
Carlyle (see quot. 1864) attributed this observation to the French political philosopher Montesquieu (1689–1755). Cf. 1740 B. FRANKLIN Poor Richard’s Almanack (Feb.) Happy that Nation,—fortunate that age, whose history is not diverting.
1807 T. JEFFERSON Letter 29 Mar. in Writings (1904) XI. 182 Blest is that nation whose silent course of happiness furnishes nothing for history to say.
1860 G. ELIOT Mill on Floss VI. iii. The happiest women, like the happiest nations, have no history.
1864 CARLYLE Frederick the Great IV. XVI. i. Happy the people whose annals are blank in history.
1957 V. BRITTAIN Testament of Experience I. iv. Quoting the familiar dictum: ‘Happy is the country which has no history,’ I remarked that I belonged, like Edward VIII, to a generation which was still on the early side of middle age but had already seen almost more history than any generation could bear.
1981 Nature 23 Apr. 698 An old proverb..tells us that ‘happy is the nation that has no history.’.. DNA..is the unhappiest of molecules, for it is the subject of innumerable biographies.
Proverbs new dictionary.
Look at other dictionaries:
happy — see if you would be happy for a week take a wife; if you would be happy for a month kill a pig; but if you would be happy all your life plant a garden call no man happy till he dies happy is the bride that the sun shines on happy is the country… … Proverbs new dictionary
country — see in the country of the blind, the one eyed man is king happy is the country which has no history you can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy God made the country, and man made the town a nation without … Proverbs new dictionary
history — see history repeats itself happy is the country which has no history … Proverbs new dictionary
The Seal of Confession — The Law of the Seal of Confession † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Law of the Seal of Confession In the Decretum of the Gratian who compiled the edicts of previous councils and the principles of Church law which he published about 1151,… … Catholic encyclopedia
History of Yemen — The history of Yemen is especially important because Yemen is one of the oldest centers of civilization in the Near East. [ [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/04/wap/ht04wap.htm Arabian Peninsula, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D. | Timeline of Art History | The… … Wikipedia
History of Cape Colony from 1870 to 1899 — The year 1870 in the history of the Cape Colony marks the dawn of a new era in South Africa, and it can be said that the development of modern South Africa began on that date. Despite political complications that arose from time to time, progress … Wikipedia
The Munsters — Format Sitcom Family Fantasy Created by Allan Burns Chris Hayward … Wikipedia
The Martian Chronicles — … Wikipedia
The Clark Sisters — Also known as The Dynamic Clark Sisters (1980) Origin Detroit, Michigan Genres gospel, urban contemporary gospel Occupations Singers … Wikipedia
The Idler (1758–1760) — This article is about the 18th century series of essays. For other publications called The Idler, see The Idler (disambiguation). The Idler was a series of 103 essays, all but twelve of them by Samuel Johnson, published in the London weekly the… … Wikipedia
