I have always been of the mind that in a democracy manners are the only effective weapons against the bowie-knife.
James Russell LowellRead
Old events have modern meanings; only that survives of past history which finds kindred in all hearts and lives.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that historical events gain significance through their lasting relevance to human experience.
James Russell Lowell's quote highlights the idea that the true essence of history is not just in the events themselves but in their ability to resonate with contemporary lives and emotions. It emphasizes that those elements of the past which continue to inspire, connect, or evoke feelings in people today are what truly endure over time. Therefore, the importance of history lies in its relevance to modern human experiences and collective consciousness.
Themes
HistoryMeaningRelevanceEnduranceExperience
In practice
Example use cases
In a presentation on the importance of historical context, this quote can be used to emphasize how past events shape current perspectives.
More from James Russell Lowell
All quotes βThe foolish and the dead alone never change their opinions.
James Russell LowellRead
Not failure, but low aim, is crime.
James Russell LowellRead
Good luck is the willing handmaid of upright, energetic character, and conscientious observance of duty.
James Russell LowellRead
Puritanism, believing itself quick with the seed of religious liberty, laid, without knowing it, the egg of democracy.
James Russell LowellRead
Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.
James Russell LowellRead
Similar quotes
I am also greatly indebted to Bergson, William James, and John Dewey. One of my preoccupations has been to rescue their type of thought from the charge of anti-intellectualism, which rightly or wrongly has been associated with it.
Alfred North WhiteheadRead
One who hates is a man holding a magnifying-glass, and when he hates someone, he knows precisely that person's surface, from the soles of his feet all the way up to each hair on the hated head
Hermann BrochRead
I've been fascinated by Machiavelli since I was very young. I've always felt that he had a bad rap from history, and that he was actually a person quite unlike what we now think of as Machiavellian. He was a republican. He disliked totalitarian government.
Salman RushdieRead
The river is everywhere at the same time . . . everywhere and the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past, nor the shadow of the future.
Hermann HesseRead
I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists and therefore I know there is a God.
Romo DallaireRead
The layman always means, when he says "reality" that he is speaking of something self-evidently known; whereas to me it seems the most important and exceedingly difficult task of our time is to work on the construction of a new idea of reality.
Wolfgang PauliRead