#history
"he evidence from anthropology concurs with history in refuting the popular belief in a Jewish race descended from the biblical tribe. From the anthropologist's point of view, two groups of facts militate against this belief: the wide diversity of Jews with regard to physical characteristics, and their similarity to the Gentile population amidst whom they live. Both are reflected in the statistics about bodily height, cranial index, blood-groups, hair and eye colour, etc. Whichever of these anthropological criteria is taken as an indicator, it shows a greater similarity between Jews and their Gentile host-nation than between Jews living in different countries. ...The obvious biological explanation for both phenomena is miscegenation, which took different forms in different historical situations: intermarriage, large-scale proselytizing, rape as a constant accompaniment of war and pogrom."
React to this quote
More by Arthur Koestler
See allResonant Thoughts
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"Over this period many issues have been clarified. Today we know very much more about these twenty-seven sho…"
— Gerd Theissen"There is always a little more toothpaste in the tube. Think about it."
— Bill Bryson"It's one thing to remember history and to put up historical markers that get it right. It's quite another t…"
— James W. Loewen"“Same here, Cap’n,” Amos said. “I got a lot of past in my past."
— Daniel Abraham"Considering the part played by the sciences in the story of our Western civilization, it is hardly possible…"
— Herbert Butterfield"Because this is the other thing about immigrants: they cannot escape their history any more than you yourse…"
— Zadie Smith