Theodore Zeldin

“To idolise a person means you don't get to know them, and the idea that you can become one is a myth, and it also means that you don't need to talk to one another because you're the same person.”

“You cannot measure the minute nuance that makes the difference between being happy and unhappy at work.”

“What does it mean to dance? What does it mean to commit a crime? What does it mean to be anxious? What does it mean to tell a joke? The great thing about the French is that they have thought about these subjects in a great variety of ways and are a very articulate people.”

“The institution of marriage, if you look at it over many centuries, has come and gone.”

“Judaism is not a dogmatic religion but one which loves debate, in which scholarship has played a big part. Scholars never agree about anything.”

“The tendency of experts is to fiddle around with their expertise rather than trying to find new solutions.”

“The French have made conversation their claim to civilisation.”

“One of the great ambitions is to discover the diversity of the world, to discover who inhabits the world.”

“I don't think fear can be abolished.”

“I think it's impossible to predict the future but it is possible to look at the past and see how one can do differently from what one's ancestors have done and learn from their mistakes, and one can see how even though there are enormous forces which stop one doing what one wants to, there are little holes in which the individual can do something.”

“When two people talk with mutual respect and listen with a real interest in understanding another point of view, when they try to put themselves in the place of another, to get inside their skin, they change the world, even if it is only by a minute amount, because they are establishing equality between two human beings.”

“What's missing from the world is a sense of direction.”

“France is an idea, not a territory. They pay more attention to intellectuals here; they give artists and writers the feeling they're valued.”

“We think of speaking as something we do naturally, without any effort. But like playing music, it requires attention and knowledge and practice.”

“People in this world of superficial communication find themselves isolated and lonely and have difficult in talking about personal things that really matter to them.”

“We are already seeing the creation of a new kind of network based on friendships: Startups, which are often founded by friends, are the beginning of something that could reshape social relations.”

“Change the way you think, and you are already halfway to changing the world.”

“You have to accept that traditions exist, that people don't change their minds very quickly, that people are scared.”

“The world is... often terrifying, disgusting and tragic, but it is also beautiful. I should like to know how exactly each person would make it a tiny bit less disgusting and a tiny bit more beautiful.”

“I'm constantly astounded by the way people talk so openly to someone they don't know. They clarify in their own minds what is important to them, discover another person has similar problems, and create trust and even a friendship.”