--- title: "18 History Thought Quotes by 14 authors" description: "Browse 18 History Thought quotes by 14 authors. Discover the best History Thought sayings and thoughts." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05e/robin-g-collingwood-23357_funny_all-history-is-the-history-of-thought-21_2192323.png" --- > [All history is the history of thought,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-g-collingwood/all-history-is-the-history-of-thought/) [Robin G. Collingwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-g-collingwood/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05e/robin-g-collingwood-23357_funny_all-history-is-the-history-of-thought-21_2192323.png) > [“I was unhappy too. And until we own our history, she thought, I thought, there can be no change.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-kraus/i-was-unhappy-too-and-until-we-own-our-history-she-thought-i-thought/) [Chris Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-kraus/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a5/chris-kraus-11419_change_i-was-unhappy-too-and-until-we-own-our-h_3146370.jpg) > [The history of thought, and therefore all history, is the re-enactment of past thought in the historian's own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-g-collingwood/the-history-of-thought-and-therefore-all-history-is-the-re-enactment/) [Robin G. Collingwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-g-collingwood/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/94b/robin-g-collingwood-23357_historian_the-history-of-thought-and-therefore-all_2047318.png) > [“No Big Power in all history ever thought of itself as an aggressor. That is still true today.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-big-power-in-all-history-ever-thought-of-itself-as-an-aggressor/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/08e/anonymous-1_aggression_no-big-power-in-all-history-ever-thought_1603787.jpg) > [I was very interested in history, but I also thought, you know, history is not that interesting sometimes, and it can feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/min-jin-lee/i-was-very-interested-in-history-but-i-also-thought-you-know-history/) [Min Jin Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/min-jin-lee/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24a/min-jin-lee-7625_feel_i-was-very-interested-in-history-but-i-a_519864.jpg) > [“The history of social, political and technological change is inextricably bound to the history of thought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-stokes/the-history-of-social-political-and-technological-change-is/) [Philip Stokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-stokes/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/912/philip-stokes-269679_change_the-history-of-social-political-and-tech_621018.jpg) > [The history of thought may be summed up in these words: it is absurd by what it seeks and great by what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/the-history-of-thought-may-be-summed-up-in-these-words-it-is-absurd/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/951/paul-valery-1464_absurd_the-history-of-thought-may-be-summed-up_3135716.jpg) > [I am always interested in affecting people in some way, making them think about particular areas of history that they have never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomie-harris/i-am-always-interested-in-affecting-people-in-some-way-making-them/) [Naomie Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomie-harris/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/24e/naomie-harris-7128_areas_i-am-always-interested-in-affecting-peop_2409188.png) > [“Nothing is more isolating than having a particular history. At least that's what I thought. Now I know: All pain is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-powers/nothing-is-more-isolating-than-having-a-particular-history-at-least/) [Kevin Powers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-powers/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eca/kevin-powers-9351_history_nothing-is-more-isolating-than-having-a_2614576.png) > [There have always been people during periods of history that thought that we could get along with the enemy if only we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-hannity/there-have-always-been-people-during-periods-of-history-that-thought/) [Sean Hannity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-hannity/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b40/sean-hannity-3295_enemy_there-have-always-been-people-during-per_2476019.png) > [The history of thought, of knowledge, of philosophy, of literature seems to be seeking, and discovering, more and more discontinuities, whereas history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-history-of-thought-of-knowledge-of-philosophy-of-literature-seems/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ad/michel-foucault-1134_books_the-history-of-thought-of-knowledge-of-p_1294594.jpg) > [“History, he thought, is the study of men and women who rise to extraordinary events. It is, over and over, an examination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/history-he-thought-is-the-study-of-men-and-women-who-rise-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/865/anonymous-1_education_history-he-thought-is-the-study-of-men-a_1607323.jpg) > [“I would not go so far as to say that to construct a history of thought without a profound study of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-would-not-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-to-construct-a-history-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fb/a-n-whitehead-159427_education_i-would-not-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-to_1540972.jpg) > [I will not go so far as to say that to construct a history of thought without profound study of the mathematical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/i-will-not-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-to-construct-a-history-of-thought/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6da/alfred-north-whitehead-836_charming_i-will-not-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-to-c_2158798.jpg) > [“The history of thought - or of reason - is like this river. The thoughts that are washed along with the current…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/the-history-of-thought-or-of-reason-is-like-this-river-the-thoughts/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/jostein-gaarder-676_history_the-history-of-thought-or-of-reason-is-l_922751.png) > [“Only the learned read old books, and... now... they are of all men the least likely to acquire wisdom by doing so.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/only-the-learned-read-old-books-and-now-they-are-of-all-men-the-least/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/c-s-lewis-121_books_only-the-learned-read-old-books-and-now_2310974.jpg) > [“to Hegel, history was like a running river. Every tiny movement in the water at a given spot in the river is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/to-hegel-history-was-like-a-running-river-every-tiny-movement-in-the/) [Jostein Gaarder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jostein-gaarder/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78f/jostein-gaarder-676_hegel_to-hegel-history-was-like-a-running-rive_2662661.png) > [“Like, okay. Everyone in history thought they were the ones who finally knew everything. In their naissance, right, they were positive they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tana-french/like-okay-everyone-in-history-thought-they-were-the-ones-who-finally/) [Tana French](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tana-french/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/426/tana-french-1016_ghosts_like-okay-everyone-in-history-thought-th_1183666.jpg) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-thought/#itemlist", "name": "History Thought Quotes", "numberOfItems": 18, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All history is the history of thought,", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robin G. 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At least that's what I thought. Now I know: All pain is the same. Only the details are different.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kevin Powers" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-powers/nothing-is-more-isolating-than-having-a-particular-history-at-least/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eca/kevin-powers-9351_history_nothing-is-more-isolating-than-having-a_2614576.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eca/kevin-powers-9351_history_nothing-is-more-isolating-than-having-a_2614576.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eca/kevin-powers-9351_history_nothing-is-more-isolating-than-having-a_2614576.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Nothing is more isolating than having a particular history. At least that's what I thought. Now I know: All…” — Kevin Powers", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There have always been people during periods of history that thought that we could get along with the enemy if only we would reach out. Peace in our time is a philosophy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sean Hannity" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-hannity/there-have-always-been-people-during-periods-of-history-that-thought/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b40/sean-hannity-3295_enemy_there-have-always-been-people-during-per_2476019.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b40/sean-hannity-3295_enemy_there-have-always-been-people-during-per_2476019.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b40/sean-hannity-3295_enemy_there-have-always-been-people-during-per_2476019.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There have always been people during periods of history that thought that we could get along with the enemy…” — Sean Hannity", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The history of thought, of knowledge, of philosophy, of literature seems to be seeking, and discovering, more and more discontinuities, whereas history itself appears to be abandoning the irruption of events in favor of stable structures.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michel Foucault" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/the-history-of-thought-of-knowledge-of-philosophy-of-literature-seems/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ad/michel-foucault-1134_books_the-history-of-thought-of-knowledge-of-p_1294594.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ad/michel-foucault-1134_books_the-history-of-thought-of-knowledge-of-p_1294594.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ad/michel-foucault-1134_books_the-history-of-thought-of-knowledge-of-p_1294594.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The history of thought, of knowledge, of philosophy, of literature seems to be seeking, and discovering…” — Michel Foucault", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“History, he thought, is the study of men and women who rise to extraordinary events. It is, over and over, an examination of one person’s bravery, another’s cowardice, a third’s prescience, and a fourth’s failures. It is emotion and psychology, played out on a field of action.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anonymous" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/history-he-thought-is-the-study-of-men-and-women-who-rise-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/865/anonymous-1_education_history-he-thought-is-the-study-of-men-a_1607323.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/865/anonymous-1_education_history-he-thought-is-the-study-of-men-a_1607323.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/865/anonymous-1_education_history-he-thought-is-the-study-of-men-a_1607323.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“History, he thought, is the study of men and women who rise to extraordinary events. It is, over and over…” — Anonymous", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I would not go so far as to say that to construct a history of thought without a profound study of the mathematical ideas of successive epochs is like omitting Hamlet from the play which is named after him. That would be claiming too much. But it is certainly analogous to cutting out the part of Ophelia. This simile is singularly exact. For Ophelia is quite essential to the play, she is very charming-and a little mad. Let us grant that the pursuit of mathematics is a divine madness of the human spirit, a refuge from the goading urgency of contingent happenings.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anonymous" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-would-not-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-to-construct-a-history-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fb/a-n-whitehead-159427_education_i-would-not-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-to_1540972.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fb/a-n-whitehead-159427_education_i-would-not-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-to_1540972.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1fb/a-n-whitehead-159427_education_i-would-not-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-to_1540972.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I would not go so far as to say that to construct a history of thought without a profound study of the…” — Anonymous", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I will not go so far as to say that to construct a history of thought without profound study of the mathematical ideas of successive epochs is like omitting Hamlet from the play which is named after him. That would be claiming too much. But it is certainly analogous to cutting out the part of Ophelia. This simile is singularly exact. For Ophelia is quite essential to the play, she is very charming . . . and a little mad.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alfred North Whitehead" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/i-will-not-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-to-construct-a-history-of-thought/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6da/alfred-north-whitehead-836_charming_i-will-not-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-to-c_2158798.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6da/alfred-north-whitehead-836_charming_i-will-not-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-to-c_2158798.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6da/alfred-north-whitehead-836_charming_i-will-not-go-so-far-as-to-say-that-to-c_2158798.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I will not go so far as to say that to construct a history of thought without profound study of the…” — Alfred North Whitehead", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The history of thought - or of reason - is like this river. The thoughts that are washed along with the current of past tradition, as well as the material conditions prevailing at the time, help to determine how you think. You can therefore never claim that any particular thought is correct for ever and ever. But the thought can be correct from where you stand.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jostein Gaarder" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/the-history-of-thought-or-of-reason-is-like-this-river-the-thoughts/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/jostein-gaarder-676_history_the-history-of-thought-or-of-reason-is-l_922751.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/jostein-gaarder-676_history_the-history-of-thought-or-of-reason-is-l_922751.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/317/jostein-gaarder-676_history_the-history-of-thought-or-of-reason-is-l_922751.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The history of thought - or of reason - is like this river. The thoughts that are washed along with the…” — Jostein Gaarder", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Only the learned read old books, and... now... they are of all men the least likely to acquire wisdom by doing so. ...[G]reat scholars are now as little nourished by the past as the most ignorant mechanic who holds that \"history is bunk...\" [for] ...when a learned man is presented with any statement in an ancient author, the one question he never asks is whether it is true. He asks who influenced the ancient writer, and how far the statement is consistent with what he said in other books, and what phase in the writer's development, or in the general history of thought, it illustrates, and how it affected later writers, and how often it has been misunderstood (specially by the learned man's colleagues) and what the general course of criticism on it has been for the last ten years, and what is the \"present state of the question.\" To regard the ancient writer as a possible source of knowledge-to anticipate that what he said could possibly modify your thoughts or your behavior-this would be rejected as unutterably simple-minded. ... [Therefore, even though] learning makes a free commerce between the ages... every generation [is cut] off from all others... [and] ...characteristic errors of one [are not] corrected by the characteristic truths of another.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "C.S. Lewis" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/only-the-learned-read-old-books-and-now-they-are-of-all-men-the-least/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/c-s-lewis-121_books_only-the-learned-read-old-books-and-now_2310974.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/c-s-lewis-121_books_only-the-learned-read-old-books-and-now_2310974.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa7/c-s-lewis-121_books_only-the-learned-read-old-books-and-now_2310974.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Only the learned read old books, and... now... they are of all men the least likely to acquire wisdom by…” — C.S. Lewis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“to Hegel, history was like a running river. Every tiny movement in the water at a given spot in the river is determined by the falls and eddies in the water higher upstream. But these movements are determined, too, by the rocks and bends in the river at the point where you are observing it. the history of thought--or of reason--is like this river. The thoughts that are washed along with the current of past tradition, as well as the material conditions prevailing at the time, help to determine how you think. You can therefore never claim that any particular thought is correct for ever and ever. But the thought can be correct from where you stand”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jostein Gaarder" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jostein-gaarder/to-hegel-history-was-like-a-running-river-every-tiny-movement-in-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78f/jostein-gaarder-676_hegel_to-hegel-history-was-like-a-running-rive_2662661.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78f/jostein-gaarder-676_hegel_to-hegel-history-was-like-a-running-rive_2662661.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/78f/jostein-gaarder-676_hegel_to-hegel-history-was-like-a-running-rive_2662661.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“to Hegel, history was like a running river. Every tiny movement in the water at a given spot in the river is…” — Jostein Gaarder", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 18, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Like, okay. Everyone in history thought they were the ones who finally knew everything. In their naissance, right, they were positive they knew exactly how the universe worked. Til the next set of guys came along and proved they were missing like a hundred important things. and then that set of guys were sure they had it all down, til another set came along and showed them parts they were missing.\" He glances at Julia, checking if she's laughing at him, which she isn't, and if she's listening, which she is, completely. \"So.\" he says, \"it's pretty unlikely, mathematically, that we are living in the one single era that has everything figured out. Which means there's a decent possibility that the reason we can't explain how ghosts and stuff could exist is because we haven't figured it out yet, not because they don't. And it is pretty arrogant of us to think it definitely has to be the other way around.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tana French" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tana-french/like-okay-everyone-in-history-thought-they-were-the-ones-who-finally/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/426/tana-french-1016_ghosts_like-okay-everyone-in-history-thought-th_1183666.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/426/tana-french-1016_ghosts_like-okay-everyone-in-history-thought-th_1183666.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/426/tana-french-1016_ghosts_like-okay-everyone-in-history-thought-th_1183666.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Like, okay. Everyone in history thought they were the ones who finally knew everything. In their naissance…” — Tana French", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-thought/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-thought/", "name": "History Thought Quotes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-thought/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05e/robin-g-collingwood-23357_funny_all-history-is-the-history-of-thought-21_2192323.png" }, "description": "Browse 18 History Thought quotes by 14 authors. 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