---
title: "2 Study Past Quotes By Herbert Butterfield"
description: "2 Study Past quotes by Herbert Butterfield. Plus more from Herbert Butterfield and more Study Past sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/herbert-butterfield-27137_education_the-study-of-the-past-with-one-eye-so-to_1108736.png"
---

> [The study of the past with one eye, so to speak, upon the present is the source of all sins and sophistries in history ... It is the essence of what we mean by the word 'unhistorical'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/the-study-of-the-past-with-one-eye-so-to-speak-upon-the-present-is/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb3/herbert-butterfield-27137_education_the-study-of-the-past-with-one-eye-so-to_1108736.png)

> [The study of the past with one eye upon the present is the source of all sins and sophistries in history. It is the essence of what we mean by the word "unhistorical."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/the-study-of-the-past-with-one-eye-upon-the-present-is-the-source-of/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/403/herbert-butterfield-27137_education_the-study-of-the-past-with-one-eye-upon_1460336.jpg)

## Other authors on Study Past

## More by Herbert Butterfield

> [“While there is battle and hatred men have eyes for nothing save the fact that the enemy is the cause of all the troubles;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/while-there-is-battle-and-hatred-men-have-eyes-for-nothing-save-the/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [The academic mind can eat away the very basis of its own assurance ... produce contortions when it tries to bend over backward ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/the-academic-mind-can-eat-away-the-very-basis-of-its-own-assurance/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [Very strange bridges are used to make the passage from one state of things to another; we may lose sight of them in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/very-strange-bridges-are-used-to-make-the-passage-from-one-state-of/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [But the greatest menace to our civilization today is the conflict between giant organized systems of self-righteousness - each system only too delighted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/but-the-greatest-menace-to-our-civilization-today-is-the-conflict/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [“History is not the study of origins; rather it is the analysis of all the mediations by which the past was turned into our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/history-is-not-the-study-of-origins-rather-it-is-the-analysis-of-all/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [In the last resort, sheer insight is the greatest asset of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/in-the-last-resort-sheer-insight-is-the-greatest-asset-of-all/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [The study of the past with one eye, so to speak, upon the present is the source of all sins and sophistries in history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/the-study-of-the-past-with-one-eye-so-to-speak-upon-the-present-is/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [“The raconteur knows too well that, if he investigates the truth of the matter, he is only too likely to lose his good story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/the-raconteur-knows-too-well-that-if-he-investigates-the-truth-of-the/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [Those people work more wisely who seek to achieve good in their own small corner of the world ... than those who are forever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/those-people-work-more-wisely-who-seek-to-achieve-good-in-their-own/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [The study of the past with one eye upon the present is the source of all sins and sophistries in history. It is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/the-study-of-the-past-with-one-eye-upon-the-present-is-the-source-of/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [About the scientific revolution: it "outshines everything since the rise of Christianity and reduces the Renaissance and Reformation to the rank of mere episodes".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/about-the-scientific-revolution-it-outshines-everything-since-the/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [It has been said that the historian is the avenger, and that standing as a judge between the parties and rivalries and causes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/it-has-been-said-that-the-historian-is-the-avenger-and-that-standing/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [Concerning alchemy it is more difficult to discover the actual state of things, in that the historians who specialise in this field seem sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/concerning-alchemy-it-is-more-difficult-to-discover-the-actual-state/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [If history can do anything it is to remind us that all our judgments are merely relative to time and circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/if-history-can-do-anything-it-is-to-remind-us-that-all-our-judgments/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

> [It is not a sin to introduce a personal bias that can be recognized and discounted. The sin in historical composition is the organization…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-butterfield/it-is-not-a-sin-to-introduce-a-personal-bias-that-can-be-recognized/)

[Herbert Butterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-butterfield/)

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