Breaking Down Some of History's Most Important Quotes

As with Philosophy and Literature, History is open to confusion but in its own unique way. As the world changes, language changes along with it. Thus when we look back at a particular quote that occurred in a particular time period, we have to constantly ask ourselves is this really what the author meant? Languages change, cultures change, and yet we project our 21st century worldview onto others. What did they actually mean? What did they actually want to know or claim to know?

In E. H. Carr's legendary Magnus Opus What Is History? Carr discusses the obstacles that Historians must deal with (whether honestly or not). The reality is that historians, just like every other scholar in every field of academia, is always picking and choosing how to frame a certain set of 'facts.' There's no obvious reason why a historian would study say a treatise by Julius Caesar or the opinion of his Gallic opponents in the same time and place. 

The best defense of this reality, to paraphrase Historian Richard J. Evans' book In Defence of History, is that at least we know that. At least we are aware, to some extent, of our cognitive biases and our limitations to frame 'all' the relevant facts. Our admission and knowledge of that fact is what allows us as researchers, writers and academics the chance to autocorrect as we go. 

As such, please keep in mind that all posts in this category (and all categories) are open to revision as errors are spotted or new evidence emerges. Quotes may not change, but our opinions about them do.

Finally, PLEASE feel free to let us know if we haven't gotten to a particular quote you're interested in or if you've discovered an error in one of our posts (in which case definitely contact us).