But history is neither watchmaking nor cabinet construction. It is an endeavor toward better understanding.
Marc BlochRead
The historian is, by definition, absolutely incapable of observing the facts which he examines.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Historians cannot witness events directly, making their accounts inherently subjective.
In this quote, Marc Bloch emphasizes the inherent limitations of historians, who, due to their temporal distance from the events they study, cannot observe the facts directly. Instead, historians rely on interpretations, narratives, and evidence that are influenced by their own perspectives, highlighting the subjective nature of historical inquiry.
Themes
HistorySubjectivityInterpretationEvidencePerspective
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the nature of historical writing, you might quote Bloch to illustrate how historians work.
More from Marc Bloch
All quotes βSimilar quotes
Open your refrigerator door, and you summon forth more light than the total amount enjoyed by most households in the 18th century. The world at night, for much of history, was a very dark place indeed.
Bill BrysonRead
In the Shadow of Slavery covers two and a half centuries of black life in New York City, and skillfully interweaves the categories of race and class as they affected the formation of African American identity. Leslie Harris has made a major contribution to our understanding of the black experience.
Eric FonerRead
When I read that the British army had landed thirty-two thousand troops - and I had realized, not very long before, that Philadelphia only had thirty thousand people in it - it practically lifted me out of my chair.
David McculloughRead
The tide of history only advances when people make themselves fully visible.
Anderson CooperRead
There are some places where history just grabs you by the jugular. This is one of them.
Simon SchamaRead
Africans in the United States must remember that the slave ships brought no West Indians, no Caribbeans, no Jamaicans or Trinidadians or Barbadians to this hemisphere. The slave ships brought only African people and most of us took the semblance of nationality from the places where slave ships dropped us off.
John Henrik ClarkeRead