The Mental Floss History of the World Quotes

“If the Mongols had a motto, it might have been “Have weapon, will travel.”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“The Etruscans are one of history’s more mysterious peoples. Unlike almost any other culture in the world, they wrote “back and forth” across the page—from left to right for the first line, and right to left for the second. Weirder yet, the “backward” lines were literally written in reverse, with letters appearing as if reflected in a mirror.”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“THE QUOTABLE LAO TZU “In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present. When you are content to simply be yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.” “When the Master governs, the people are hardly aware that he exists.”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“The Zhou (pronounced “Joe”) Dynasty”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“English managed to pick up a number of Bantu words, including banjo, bongos, jumbo, mambo, marimba, safari, samba, and of course the always popular zombie.”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“The first copper implement on record dates to 6000 BCE, from a culture now known as the Old Copper Complex, which existed in modern-day Michigan and Wisconsin.”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“2,000,000 BCE Various protohuman ancestors spread out across the planet. 1,500,000 BCE Hominids master fire. 300,000 BCE Neanderthals live in Europe. 150,000 BCE The Sahara is a lush grassland. 130,000 BCE Modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens, appear in Africa.”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“Grain was stored in huge stone or mud-brick silos, called granaries. Priests were in charge of keeping track of which grain had come from which landowner. To help remember the grainy details, priests invented writing. Recording quantities, names, and dates on clay tablets in turn led to accounting and banking.”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“Soon, there was so much food that some people could stop working in the fields and specialize in crafts. Expert potters, weavers, and masons were soon followed by tailors, leather tanners, miners, and other trades. Yes, that includes “the world’s oldest profession.”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“Xipe Totec was the god of spring and rebirth, but also of suffering, requiring priests to skin a sacrificial victim alive and then don the skin to symbolize the cycle of life.”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“The last Roman emperor wasn’t even important enough to execute.”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“Socrates, 470—399 BCE.”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits

“But the pirates never showed, and the slaves found themselves trapped on a narrow peninsula. (Lesson: never trust pirates.)”
― Erik Sass, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp through Civilization's Best Bits

“In fact, being old and decrepit makes you an easy target—especially if you’re addicted to opium!”
― Steve Wiegand, The Mental Floss History of the World: An Irreverent Romp Through Civilization's Best Bits