History fades into fable, fact becomes clouded with doubt and controversy, the inscription molders from the tablet, the statue falls from the pedestal. Columns, arches, pyramids—what are they but heaps of sand, and their epitaphs but characters written in the dust?

About Washington Irving

Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820), both of which appear in his collection The Sketch Book of...

More quotations from Washington Irving

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power.

—Washington Irving

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.

—Washington Irving

Kindness in women, not their beauteous looks, shall win my love.

—Washington Irving

love kindness beauty women

Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.

—Washington Irving

wishes

There is a healthful hardiness about real dignity that never dreads contact and communion with others, however humble.

—Washington Irving

dignity

More quotations tagged with “myth”

The American myth that anyone who works hard will get ahead, and that wealth accumulation is a product of individual effort and merit, is no longer sustainable.

—Manning Marable

myth USA wealth accumulation

To explain why we become attached to our birthplaces, we pretend that we are trees and speak of "roots." Look under your feet. You will not find gnarled growths sprouting through the soles. Roots, I sometimes think, are a conservative myth, designed to keep us in our places.

—Salman Rushdie

myth home conservative place roots

True myths may serve for thousands of years as an inexhaustible source of intellectual speculation, religious joy, ethical inquiry, and artistic renewal. The real mystery is not destroyed by reason. The fake one is. You look at it and it vanishes. You look at the Blond Hero—really look—and he turns into a gerbil. But you look at Apollo, and he looks back at you. The poet Rilke looked at a statue of Apollo about fifty years ago, and Apollo spoke to him. "You must change your life," he said. When the true myth rises into consciousness, that is always its message: "You must change your life.

—Ursula K. Le Guin

life religion change myth mystery art reason consciousness reflection inquiry

Heroes are created by popular demand, sometimes out of the scantiest materials, or none at all.

—Gerald W. Johnson

heroism myth popularity hero worship

When ideas go unexamined and unchallenged for a long enough time, certain things happen. They become mythological, and they become very, very powerful. They create conformity. They intimidate.

—E. L. Doctorow

power ideas myth conformity

History

3 Apr 2013 Added
26 Oct 2026 Wording changed

Previous wording

History fades into fable, fact becomes clouded with doubt and controversy, the inscription molders from the tablet, the statue falls from the pedestal. Columns, arches, pyramids — what are they but heaps of sand, and their epitaphs but characters written in the dust?