---
title: "When I had got my notes all written out I thought I'd polish it off i… — Arnold Joseph Toynbee Quote #29 | QuotesBy.net"
description: "When I had got my notes all written out I thought I'd polish it off in two summers, but it took me twenty-seven years. — a quote by Arnold Joseph Toynbee."
image: "https://quotesby.net/wp-content/themes/quotesby-editorial/assets/og-default.png"
---

> # When I had got my notes all written out I thought I'd polish it off in two summers, but it took me twenty-seven years.

[Arnold Joseph Toynbee](https://quotesby.net/Arnold-Joseph-Toynbee)\#29[WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)](https://wa.me/?text=%E2%80%9CWhen%20I%20had%20got%20my%20notes%20all%20written%20out%20I%20thought%20I%27d%20polish%20it%20off%20in%20two%20summers%2C%20but%20it%20took%20me%20twenty-seven%20years.%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20Arnold%20Joseph%20Toynbee%20https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FArnold-Joseph-Toynbee%2F29%2F)[X (opens in a new tab)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%E2%80%9CWhen%20I%20had%20got%20my%20notes%20all%20written%20out%20I%20thought%20I%27d%20polish%20it%20off%20in%20two%20summers%2C%20but%20it%20took%20me%20twenty-seven%20years.%E2%80%9D%20%E2%80%94%20Arnold%20Joseph%20Toynbee&url=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FArnold-Joseph-Toynbee%2F29%2F)[Facebook (opens in a new tab)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fquotesby.net%2FArnold-Joseph-Toynbee%2F29%2F)

## More from Arnold Joseph Toynbee

1. > We human beings do have some genuine freedom of choice and therefore some effective control over our own destinies. I am not a determinist. But I also believe …

[Permalink to quote \#28](https://quotesby.net/Arnold-Joseph-Toynbee/28/ "Permalink to quote 28")
2. > When I was a child, the institution of war, which by then had been in existence for perhaps five thousand years, was still taken for granted by most people in …

[Permalink to quote \#30](https://quotesby.net/Arnold-Joseph-Toynbee/30/ "Permalink to quote 30")
3. > We have been God-like in our planned breeding of our domesticated plants and animals, but we have been rabbit-like in our unplanned breeding of ourselves.

[Permalink to quote \#27](https://quotesby.net/Arnold-Joseph-Toynbee/27/ "Permalink to quote 27")

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