“The first job of the historian and of the journalist is to find facts. Not the only job, perhaps not the most important, but the first. Facts are the cobblestones from which we build roads of analysis, mosaic tiles that we fit together to compose pictures of past and present. There will be disagreement about where the road leads and what reality or truth is revealed by the mosaic picture. The facts themselves must be checked against all the available evidence. But some are round and hard--and the most powerful leaders in the world can trip over them. So can writers, dissidents and saints.” WorldFirstsImportantHardFactsRealityTogetherJobsPastPowerfulLeaderFitTruth IsEvidenceRoundsSaintAvailableJournalistAnalysisMost PowerfulHistorianDisagreementPast And PresentDissidentsMosaicsPowerful LeadersTilesCobblestone Author:Timothy Garton Ash
“Alas! In vain historians pry and probe: The same wind blows, and in the same live robe Truth bends her head to fingers curved cupwise; And with a woman's smile and a child's care Examines something she is holding there Concealed by her own shoulder from our eyes.” ChildrenEyeTruthCareWindTruth IsFingersBlowShouldersVainHistorianAlasConcealedRobes Book:The Gift Source: The Gift
“We're historians and above all want to write about what was. Our book doesn't deal with legacies. It also wasn't our goal to destroy a legend. We consider Walesa to be a national symbol. He led Solidarity and remains an icon. But he also worked with the secret police under the name Bolek. The truth isn't always simply black and white.” WantWritingBookNamesGoalBlackWhiteDealsSecretTruth IsPoliceRemainsSymbolsLegacyHistorianLegendsBlack And WhiteSolidarityIconsSecret Police Author:Slawomir Cenckiewicz
“If an historian be an unbeliever in all heroism, if he be a man who brings every thing down to the level of a common mediocrity, depend upon it, the truth is not found in such a writer.” IfsMenFoundLevelsCommonDependsTruth IsHistorianMediocrityHeroismBe A ManUnbelievers Author:Matthew Arnold
“I am a lay historian by nature. I seek out an empirical reflection of what truth is. I sort of want dates and motivations and I want the whole story. But I've always felt, unconsciously, that all human history is that connection from person to person to person, event to event to event, and from idea to idea.” WantHumansPersonsIdeasWholeStoriesMotivationFeltEventsTruth IsReflectionConnectionsLaysHistorianHuman History Author:Tom Hanks
“Fiction and nonfiction are not so easily divided. Fiction may not be real, but it's true; it goes beyond the garland of facts to get to emotional and psychological truths. As for nonfiction, for history, it may be real, but its truth is slippery, hard to access, with no fixed meaning bolted to it. If history doesn't become story, it dies to everyone except the historian.” IfsMayRealHardFactsStoriesDiesFictionEmotionalTruth IsAccessPsychologicalFixedDividedHistorianBeing RealNonfictionSlipperyGarlandsFiction And Nonfiction Book:Beatrice and Virgil Source: Beatrice and Virgil