“I was a narrative historian, believing more and more as I matured that the first function of the historian was to answer the child's question, "What happened next?” FirstsBelieveChildrenNextAnswersHappenedFunctionNarrativeHistorianMatured Author:A. J. P. Taylor
“What kinds of problems, and what kinds of meanings, happen in the paint? Or as one historian puts it, 'What is thinking in painting, as opposed to thinking about painting?' These are important questions, and they are very hard to answer using the language of art history.” ThinkingKindArtImportantHardProblemHappensLanguageAnswersPaintingPaintHistorianArt HistoryImportant Questions Book:What Painting Is Source: What Painting Is
“Poets, if they're genuine, must keep repeating "I don't know." Each poem marks an effort to answer this statement, but as soon as the final period hits the page, the poet begins to hesitate, starts to realize that this particular answer was pure makeshift that's absolutely inadequate to boot. So the poets keep on trying, and sooner or later the consecutive results of their self-dissatisfaction are clipped together with a giant paperclip by literary historians and called their oeuvre.” IfsKnowsTryingSelfTogetherRealizingAnswersResultsEffortParticularPoetPeriodsPurePagesMarkFinalsGenuineStatementsGiantsHistorianBootsSooner Or LaterInadequateDissatisfactionConsecutive Author:Wislawa Szymborska
“During part of 1941 and 1942, when the Luftwaffe was busy in Russia, the German radio regaled its home audience with stories of devastating air raids on London. Now, we are aware that those raids did not happen. But what use would our knowledge be if the Germans conquered Britain? For the purpose of a future historian, did those raids happen, or didn't they? The answer is: If Hitler survives, they happened, and if he falls they didn't happen.” IfsStoriesUseHomeHappensPurposeFallAnswersAudienceHappenedAirBusyRadioLondonRussiaBritainHistorian Book:The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell: As I please, 1943-1945 Source: The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell: As I please, 1943-1945