The Quotable Mr. Burrows
(Things that Mr. Burrows said that I wrote down in my sophomore-year history notebook)
Doing gives you the power to do.
Mr. Burrows said this often.
There is too little commitment of people today -- to marriage, issues, anything. We are a nation of cowards.
Nov. 13, 1974
The stupidest farmer in the country, even if he couldn't talk, could be elected to the Council of 400.
Referring to Solon's Constitution in ancient Greece, Nov. 20, 1974
The link between responsibility and privilege is the cornerstone of democracy.
Nov. 22, 1974
Mythology is the history that the Greeks forgot.
Paraphrasing something he'd read, Nov. 1974
Many of the Greek myths stem from flowers.
Dec. 3, 1974
The goal toward which the Greeks were striving was a perfect mind in the perfect, beautiful body.
Dec. 4, 1974
I ask you to consider if man has the ability to handle freedom.
Dec. 4, 1974
Too much today we beg for the freedom, without wanting to accept the responsibility.
Dec. 1974
The foundation of morality is the regard for the rights of others.
Paraphrasing Thucydides, Dec. 1974
Christ, Socrates and Buddha may be the three greatest men in history.
Dec. 1974
Nothing in excess, everything in moderation.
Summarizing a Greek attitude, Dec. 17, 1974
In philosophy courses in college, you will have opened to you a hundred avenues of thinking.
Dec. 1974
You were born in Greece.
Jan. 7, 1975
Alexander was a genius. He had the talents of a person 1 in 100 million.
Discussing Alexander the Great, Jan. 7, 1975
Hey Joe, I'll trade you seven cows for that piece of land over there.
Illustrating the Roman monetary system, Jan. 1975
The Roman Empire was more important overall than any previous Empire.
Jan. 10, 1975
In the last twenty years, a decadence has occurred in our society. We are so concerned with our rights and liberties that we never consider our obligation to the state, what we have to give.
Jan. 15, 1975
The Gauls are in Two Harbors!
Dramatizing the Gauls' invasion of Rome in 508 B.C., Jan. 15, 1975
Don't say anything, even if you think your great-grandmother was crabby. She's right by your elbow.
Illustrating the Roman belief that the spirits of deceased ancestors remained present, Jan. 16, 1975
The speed of change in our society may be the reason for many of our state's problems in the mid-20th century.
Jan. 28, 1975
If the Romans were building a road and your house was in the path, the road went through your house. The Romans bent for nothing.
Jan. 29, 1975
Julius Caesar was the only man to have ruled the world.
Jan. 29, 1975
Caesar never asked any of his men to do what he wouldn't do first.
Jan. 31, 1975
I would advise that you abjure extravagant spending in college.
In the midst of a vocabulary lesson, Feb. 3, 1975
Take all good things and put 'very' in front of it, and that's the rule of Antonius Pius (138-161 A.D.)
Feb. 5, 1975
Before, the Emperor had created the Praetorian Guard. Now, the Praetorian Guard creates the Emperor.
Feb. 7, 1975
A baby is a barbarian.
Feb. 10, 1975
There will be no conquest from without until there is a conquest from within.
Drawing possible parallels between the fall of Rome and our society, Feb. 14, 1975
Okay, I will pray to your God!
Illustrating Constantine's response to his wife's request that he pray to the Christian God, Feb. 14, 1975
Divide and conquer!
A cornerstone of Caesar's military strategy, Feb. 21, 1975
In the long run of history, some things which are horrible at the time turn out to be good...strangely.
Feb. 21, 1975
If the Muslims had not been stopped at Tours (732 A.D.) and Vienna (1682 A.D.), we would be Muslim today.
Feb. 25, 1975.
Bazaar, magazine, algebra...three Arab words!
Feb. 25, 1975
We have all of the facets of the weak Rome, including corruption, immorality and bureaucracy.
Feb. 25, 1975
Claim Allah as your God or die!
Illustrating the Islamic conquests, Feb. 26, 1975.
Pepin might have been a couple of shades above Clovis.
Comparing the Frankish rulers, Feb. 26, 1975.
Oh, hi!
Illustrating how a confident, young Charlemagne might have approached the Bishop of Rome at their first meeting, Feb. 27, 1975.
He got it into his mind that he was going to re-create the Empire of Rome.
Referring to Charlemagne, Feb. 27, 1975.
At 5 a.m Charlemagne would say, "OK men, we'd better get to bed. We have to get up at 6 to fight."
Feb. 28, 1975.
We rarely expose ourselves to anything uncomfortable, intellectual or physical.
Feb. 28, 1975.
The local unit of the feudal system is the exact opposite of a national, long-range government.
Feb. 28, 1975.
The thoughts of people during the Feudal Age centered on protection and salvation.
Feb. 28, 1975.
We speak of the Feudal Period as a backward time, but the relationships of people to people may have been closer than they are today.
March 10, 1975
Pope Urban II promised all people who went to fight the Turks total remission of sins.
March 10, 1975
The Norse invasions were a good thing.
March 11, 1975
The changes after the Crusades mark the planting of the seed of the modern age.
March 11, 1975
Cities of the Medieval Age were crowded and crooked.
March 11, 1975
The growth of trade was caused by the women.
Discussing the transition from the Feudal to the Medieval Age, March 11, 1975
And then someone said "Grundrichrecht!"
Grundrichrecht, the feudal "right of the ground," March 11, 1975
The Church officials of the Medieval Age fell prey to the common human errors which wealth enabled them to make.
March 12, 1975
Salvation could only come through an awakening within each person.
Summarizing Martin Luther, March 12, 1975
It is ironic that some of the most horrible wars have been fought in the name of religion.
March 12, 1975
"How dare he stand outside the Catholic Church?"
Summarizing a common 16th-century view of Martin Luther, March 14, 1975
Hang around.
Mr. Burrows is caught using slang, March 14, 1975
In stained glass, gold produced reds; cobalt produced a blue.
March 17, 1975
Cathedrals are sermons in stone.
Quoting another source, March 17, 1975
All of the advances of western civilization have come from a handful of wealthy, leisurely people.
March 18, 1975
Whenever he opened his mouth, it was just to make room for the other foot.
Speaking of Michelangelo, March 19, 1975
The Renaissance is rooted in the Greek.
March 19, 1975
The Renaissance ideal was 'excellence in all you could achieve.'
March 21, 1975
We are not Renaissance people today. I wish we could go back.
March 21, 1975
We may be heading for the international state, and be leaving the individual behind. Stick around for 500 years and see.
April 1, 1975
When people of the future look back, if our civilization lasts long enough, they will see the 20th century as a 100-year war.
April 3, 1975
We do it backwards - we mortify the soul to please the flesh.
April 8, 1975
I just can't imagine teaching something I don't like.
April 10, 1975
The idea of democracy was brought to us through the Anglo-Saxons.
April 17, 1975
The yeoman class founded our country.
April 18, 1975
King William of Normandy (invaded England in 1066) was a restless genius who was looking around for something to do.
April 21, 1975
My personal liberties come in part from King Henry I of England.
Referring to Henry I's Charter of Liberties, and his development of a functioning government, April 22, 1975
Besides, it's just a great course.
Giving reasons why students should take his junior-year American history course, April 22, 1975
King Henry II was one of the conscious creators of England's greatness.
Referring to Henry II's development of representative government and the jury system, April 23, 1975
A great university had ten or twelve books.
Speaking of the 12th century, April 23, 1975
[Queen] Elizabeth loved getting presents and jewels.
April 30, 1975
We and Russia do not speak the same language.
May 15, 1975
Peter the Great wanted the Russians to have Constantinople, not just bounce around on the Black Sea.
May 15, 1975
The Seven Year War [1757-1763] was the first 'world war.'
May 16, 1975
He took as his model the Sun.
Referring to King Louis XIV of France, May 19, 1975
"The Pyrenees are no more."
Quoting Louis XIV, who aspired to rule Spain, May 21, 1975
We are not willing to pay the price to make our system work.
May 23, 1975
"My mind is like a bureau with many drawers."
Quoting Napoleon, May 28, 1975
Napoleon wanted to take over Duluth, Minnesota.
Dramatizing Napoleon's ambition, May 29, 1975
Written down by Jonathan Stevens
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