Yes, world history is indeed such an onion! Guns, Germs And Steel

“This is to be asserted in general of men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous.” The Prince

If your ultimate and highest goal is to have life made easy and sociable, then never become involved with Christianity, shun it, because it wants the very opposite; it wants to make your life difficult and to do this by making you alone before God. No earnest person, therefore, wearies of tracking down the illusions, because insofar as he is a thinking person he fears most to be in error, however cozy the arrangement is, however good the company—and as a Christian he fears most to be lost without knowing it—however flattering, however splendid the surroundings and the company are. Works of Love

The discipline of the written word punishes both stupidity and dishonesty. In Awe of Words