Quote#Sadness
The history of nations is a melancholy chapter, that is, the history…
Quote byWilliam Ewart Gladstone · 1809–1898
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Letter to Olga Novikoff (1876), quoted in Olga Novikoff, Russian Memories (1916), p. 219.
English (original)
The history of nations is a melancholy chapter, that is, the history of their Governments. I am sorrowfully of opinion that, though virtue of splendid quality dwells in high regions with individuals, it is chiefly to be found on a large scale with the masses; and the history of nations is one of the most immoral parts of human history.
— William Ewart Gladstone
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