There are many things which we can afford to forget which it is yet well to learn.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
History has to be rewritten because history is the selection of those threads of causes or antecedents that we are interested in.
Interpretation
What this quote means
History is subjective and shaped by our interests and perspectives.
This quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. suggests that history is not a fixed record of events, but rather a narrative constructed from those aspects that captivate our attention and curiosity. The act of writing history involves selecting specific causes and antecedents that align with our interests, highlighting the subjective nature of historical interpretation and the influence of human perspective in determining what we consider to be significant.
Themes
HistorySubjectivityNarrativeInterpretationPerspective
In practice
Example use cases
In a history class discussing the importance of perspective in historical narratives.
More from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
All quotes βOn the whole, I am on the side of the unregenerate who affirms the worth of life as an end in itself, as against the saints who deny it.
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If you don't know what you want, you will probably never get it.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Why should you row a boat race? Why endure the long months of pain in preparation for a fierce half hour that will leave you all but dead? Does anyone ask the question? Is there anyone who would not go through all the costs, and more, for the moment when anguish breaks into triumph or even for the glory of having nobly lost? Is life less than a boat race? If a man will give the blood in his body to win the one, will he spend all the might of his soul to prevail in the other?
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
The main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts, but learning how to make facts live.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
Beware how you take away hope from another human being.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.Read
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