HISTORY QUOTES V

quotations about history

What dependence can I have on the alleged events of ancient history, when I find such difficulty in ascertaining the truth regarding a matter that has taken place only a few minutes ago, and almost in my own presence!

SIR WALTER RALEIGH

attributed, Testimony: Its Posture in the Scientific World


The historian's task is to present what actually happened. The more purely and completely he achieves this, the more perfectly has he solved this problem. A simple presentation is at the same time the primary indispensable condition of his work and the highest achievement he will be able to attain. Regarded in this way, he seems to be merely receptive and productive, not active and creative.

WILHELM VON HUMBOLDT

"The Historian's Task"

Tags: Wilhelm von Humboldt


Now, history is made, not by abstract individuals, but by acting, living and passing individuals. Abstractions advance only when borne forward by real men.

MIKHAIL BAKUNIN

God and the State

Tags: Mikhail Bakunin


One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us.

CARL SAGAN

The Demon-Haunted World

Tags: Carl Sagan


Men are not the causers of history. History itself, by a pressure of events, causes men to resort to particular actions.

TANITH LEE

The Gods are Thirsty


History is a struggle between the "old" right that intended to be just and the "new" that promises to be.

REINHARD BENDIX

Truth and Ideology

Tags: Reinhard Bendix


Sometimes ... history needs a push.

VLADIMIR LENIN

attributed, Seeds of Revolution: A Collection of Axioms


History viewed from the inside is always a dark, digestive mess, far different from the easily recognizable cow viewed from afar by historians.

DAN SIMMONS

Hyperion

Tags: Dan Simmons


The ideal historian goes to the mouth of the tomb, cries: "Lazarus, come forth!" and sets him that was dead for ages, blinking and passionate, in the sun.

AUSTIN O'MALLEY

Keystones of Thought

Tags: Austin O'Malley


People are absolutely haunted by [history]. You can see it at the swap meets.

PAMELA LANSDEN

"It's Monterey, Jack", Los Angeles Times, April 7, 1997


Each day is a little bit of history.

JOSé SARAMAGO

Baltasar and Blimunda

Tags: José Saramago


History. The more of it you have the more you have to live it. After a little while there gets to be too much of it to memorize and maybe that's when empires start to decline.

JOHN UPDIKE

Rabbit is Rich

Tags: John Updike


The charm of history and its enigmatic lesson consist in the fact that, from age to age, nothing changes and yet everything is completely different.

ALDOUS HUXLEY

The Devils of Loudun

Tags: Aldous Huxley


History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation.

JULIAN BARNES

The Sense of an Ending

Tags: Julian Barnes


The more we know of history, the less shall we esteem the subjects of it.

CHARLES CALEB COLTON

Lacon

Tags: Charles Caleb Colton


He who thoroughly understands the present epoch, must have reproduced, and lived through, in his private experience, all the religions, dispensations, and civilizations that preceded it.

WILLIAM BATCHELDER GREENE

Remarks on the Science of History

Tags: William Batchelder Greene


History is not fable agreed upon, but truth disagreed upon.

IVAN PANIN

Thoughts

Tags: Ivan Panin


All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut.

ANNE BRONTE

Agnes Grey

Tags: Anne Brontë


History, again, tells us of successive civilizations which have been born, have for a space thriven exceedingly, and have then miserably perished.

ARTHUR BALFOUR

Essays and Addresses

Tags: Arthur Balfour


Good history is a good foundation for a better present and future.

JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN

preface, Race and History: Selected Essays 1938-1988