Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Robin G. Collingwood

Quote by Robin G. Collingwood

“History is for human self-knowledge. Knowing yourself means knowing, first, what it is to be a person; secondly, knowing what it is to be the kind of person you are; and thirdly, knowing what it is to be the person you are and nobody else is. Knowing yourself means knowing what you can do; and since nobody knows what they can do until they try, the only clue to what man can do is what man has done. The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is.”

Quote by Robin G. Collingwood

Create image

Author

Robin G. Collingwood
Robin G. Collingwood

Robin G. Collingwood (February 22, 1889 – January 9, 1943) was a British philosopher, historian, and archaeologist, best known for his contributions to the philosophy of history, aesthetics, and metaphysics. Born in Lancashire, England, he was influenced by his father, an artist and archaeologist. Collingwood studied and taught at Oxford University, where he became the Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy. His major works include The Idea of History, The Principles of Art, and An Essay on Metaphysics. He argued that all history is the history of thought, emphasizing the historian's role in re-enacting past ideas. His ideas have had a lasting impact on Western philosophy and historiography. more

You May Also Like

“That historians should give their own country a break, I grant you; but not so as to state things contrary to fact. For there are plenty of mistakes made by writers out of ignorance, and which any man finds it difficult to avoid. But if we knowingly write what is false, whether for the sake of our country or our friends or just to be pleasant, what difference is there between us and hack writers? Readers should be very attentive to and critical of historians, and they in turn should be constantly on their guard.”

IfsMenGivingShouldWritingMadeCountryStatesFactsTurnsDifficultFriendshipDifferencesMistakeBreakHistoryIgnoranceReaderDiversitySocial JusticeSakeCriticalContraryOur CountryPlentyPleasantGrantsHistorianHacks
Author:Polybius
Create image

“Time in its irresistible and ceaseless flow carries along on its flood all created things and drowns them in the depths of obscurity. . . . But the tale of history forms a very strong bulwark against the stream of time, and checks in some measure its irresistible flow, so that, of all things done in it, as many as history has taken over it secures and binds together, and does not allow them to slip away into the abyss of oblivion.”

DoeDoneTogetherFormStrongHistoryTakenFlowAll ThingsDepthChecksTalesStreamsCarrieOver ItSlipsVery StrongFloodAbyssOblivionIrresistibleObscurityThings Done
Author:Anna Komnene
Create image