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“The interactions of climate, race and spirit, the directional influence of outstanding individuals on the course of History, are so obscure that no predictions are possible even in reverse; all "if" statements about the past are as dubious as prophecies of the future are. It seems fairly plausible that if Alexander or Genghis Khan had never been born, some other individual would have filled his place and executed the design of the Hellenic or Mongolic expansion; but the Alexanders of philosophy and religion, of science and art, seem less expendable; their impact seems less determined by economic challenges and social pressures; and they seem to have a much wider range of possibilities to influence the direction, shape and texture of civilizations. If conquerors be regarded as the engine-drivers of History, then the conquerors of thought are perhaps the pointsmen who, less conspicuous to the traveller's eye, determine the direction of the journey.”
-- Arthur Koestler
