--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: History is formed by the people, those…" description: "\"History is formed by the people, those who have power and those without power. Each one of us makes history.\" — Anselm Kiefer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/anselm-kiefer-19043_formed_history-is-formed-by-the-people-those-wh_636723.png" --- # History is formed by the people, those who have power and… ![“History is formed by the people, those who have power and those without power. Each one of us makes history.” quote by Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/anselm-kiefer-19043_formed_history-is-formed-by-the-people-those-wh_636723.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/anselm-kiefer-19043_formed_history-is-formed-by-the-people-those-wh_636723.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b4/anselm-kiefer-19043_formed_history-is-formed-by-the-people-those-wh_636723.png) > “History is formed by the people, those who have power and those without power. Each one of us makes history.” [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. History is shaped by both powerful and powerless people; everyone contributes to its course. **In simple terms:** Everyone influences history, powerful or not. Key Takeaway Recognize your impact on the world. Themes history power individual agency collective action Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - activism - community projects - everyday decisions Key Concepts political theory social dynamics responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How does your daily action affect the future? - What responsibilities do you have? A Different Perspective Powerful elites dominate narratives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-power/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) ## Related quotes > [It's our culture, Christian history, that's what formed me. Even as an atheist, I believe. We're just built that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerhard-richter/it-s-our-culture-christian-history-that-s-what-formed-me-even-as-an/) [Gerhard Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerhard-richter/) > [“such was the bond that formed between two people under strain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/such-was-the-bond-that-formed-between-two-people-under-strain/) [Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/) > [I believe that I understand gangs better than others. Because they're formed out of necessity. They're formed by people to keep from being suppressed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-bowman/i-believe-that-i-understand-gangs-better-than-others-because-they-re/) [Jack Bowman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-bowman/) > [The family is where we are formed as people. Every family is a brick in the building of society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/the-family-is-where-we-are-formed-as-people-every-family-is-a-brick/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“We were, each of us… at a crossroads of public and private dynamics which had brought us to this frame-worthy moment. I thought of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aberjhani/we-were-each-of-us-at-a-crossroads-of-public-and-private-dynamics/) [Aberjhani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aberjhani/) > [Pulling like little pieces from things that we love is how we are formed as people, whether it's music or anything else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gracie-abrams/pulling-like-little-pieces-from-things-that-we-love-is-how-we-are/) [Gracie Abrams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gracie-abrams/) > [History can be formed from permanent monuments and records; but lives can only be written from personal knowledge, which is growing every day less,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/history-can-be-formed-from-permanent-monuments-and-records-but-lives/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [“I’ve always rejected the great-man idea. The belief that human history was formed by singular individuals instead of broad social forces? Romantic, but …”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-s-a-corey/i-ve-always-rejected-the-great-man-idea-the-belief-that-human-history/) [James S.A. Corey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-s-a-corey/) > [It is only by historical analysis that we can discover what makes up man, since it is only in the course of history that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/it-is-only-by-historical-analysis-that-we-can-discover-what-makes-up/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [“That’s why the survivor clubs formed. The only people who really understood were the people who had been through those experiences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/that-s-why-the-survivor-clubs-formed-the-only-people-who-really/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) > [“The man makes History, the woman is History.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-spengler/the-man-makes-history-the-woman-is-history/) [Oswald Spengler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-spengler/) > [If you interview five people about the same incident, and you see five different points of view, it makes you know what makes history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/if-you-interview-five-people-about-the-same-incident-and-you-see-five/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [“Man makes his history with the one hand and "holds it up" with the other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/djuna-barnes/man-makes-his-history-with-the-one-hand-and-holds-it-up-with-the-other/) [Djuna Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/djuna-barnes/) > [A WELL BEHAVED WOMEN NEVER MAKES HISTORY](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/a-well-behaved-women-never-makes-history/) [MARILYN MONROE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [Longing on a large scale makes history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/longing-on-a-large-scale-makes-history/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ## More by Anselm Kiefer > [Art really is something very difficult. It is difficult to make, and it is sometimes difficult for the viewer to understand. It is difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/art-really-is-something-very-difficult-it-is-difficult-to-make-and-it/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [What does the artist do? He draws connections. He ties the invisible threads between things. He dives into history, be it the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/what-does-the-artist-do-he-draws-connections-he-ties-the-invisible/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [Art is difficult. It's not entertainment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/art-is-difficult-it-s-not-entertainment/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [Art is difficult. It's not entertainment. There are only a few people who can say something about art - it's very restricted. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/art-is-difficult-it-s-not-entertainment-there-are-only-a-few-people/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [When knowledge becomes rigid, it stops living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/when-knowledge-becomes-rigid-it-stops-living/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [I might have been born into a very literal sense of chaos, but in fact that state is true of all of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-might-have-been-born-into-a-very-literal-sense-of-chaos-but-in-fact/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [I am against the idea of the end, that everything culminates in paradise or judgment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-am-against-the-idea-of-the-end-that-everything-culminates-in/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [Ruins, for me, are the beginning. With the debris, you can construct new ideas. They are symbols of a beginning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/ruins-for-me-are-the-beginning-with-the-debris-you-can-construct-new/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [I believe art has to take responsibility but it should not give up being art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-believe-art-has-to-take-responsibility-but-it-should-not-give-up/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [I am of the opinion that there are artists and non-artists. I think that this is the way it always was and always will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-am-of-the-opinion-that-there-are-artists-and-non-artists-i-think/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [I was interested in transcendence from a very early age. I was interested in what was over there, what was behind life. So when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-was-interested-in-transcendence-from-a-very-early-age-i-was/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [Art maybe the only space where an indvidual can be utterly free to question himself, as well as his relationship to his God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/art-maybe-the-only-space-where-an-indvidual-can-be-utterly-free-to/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [If I do something that depresses, it's not because I'm depressed, but because political life and history is depressing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/if-i-do-something-that-depresses-it-s-not-because-i-m-depressed-but/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [Because of my Calvinistic upbringing, I was trained to think that what you do has to have a purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/because-of-my-calvinistic-upbringing-i-was-trained-to-think-that-what/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) > [I never see a forest that does not bear a mark or a sign of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anselm-kiefer/i-never-see-a-forest-that-does-not-bear-a-mark-or-a-sign-of-history/) [Anselm Kiefer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) [Explore all 33 Anselm Kiefer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anselm-kiefer/) ## More Formed quotes > [It is through suppression that hells are formed in us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-glaspell/it-is-through-suppression-that-hells-are-formed-in-us/) [Susan Glaspell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-glaspell/) > [The game business arose from computer programs that were written by and for young men in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-laurel/the-game-business-arose-from-computer-programs-that-were-written-by/) [Brenda Laurel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-laurel/) > [India was formed on the idea 'Let's get the British out.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shekhar-kapur/india-was-formed-on-the-idea-let-s-get-the-british-out/) [Shekhar Kapur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shekhar-kapur/) > [I formed, in early life, two purposes to which I have inflexibly adhered, under some very strong pressure from warm personal friends. They were,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/i-formed-in-early-life-two-purposes-to-which-i-have-inflexibly/) [Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-quintus-cincinnatus-lamar-ii/) > [The religious imagery and fairytales that formed our shared cultural references have been replaced by the cult of celebrity. Marilyn is the sex goddess,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-jackson/the-religious-imagery-and-fairytales-that-formed-our-shared-cultural/) [Alison Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-jackson/) > [I don't want to spoil the magic, but it's a very curious thing that honestly baffles me. It's the nearest we'll ever get to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-atkinson/i-don-t-want-to-spoil-the-magic-but-it-s-a-very-curious-thing-that/) [Kate Atkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-atkinson/) > [“... the scarlet thread,the red clay from which we were made, runs in tiny streams through all our veins, reminding us of where we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/the-scarlet-thread-the-red-clay-from-which-we-were-made-runs-in-tiny/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [All knowledge or form conception is evoked through the medium of the eye, either in response to disturbances directly received on the retina or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikola-tesla/all-knowledge-or-form-conception-is-evoked-through-the-medium-of-the/) [Nikola Tesla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikola-tesla/) > [It takes a major unhappiness, a prolonged and bitter experience, to drive us away from loyalties once formed. And sometimes no amount of punishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-a-major-unhappiness-a-prolonged-and-bitter-experience-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“When a child is immersed in a certain environment, his thinking is formed by roles models of behavior demonstrated by parents in the family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/when-a-child-is-immersed-in-a-certain-environment-his-thinking-is/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [A person's current personality of love, hatred, jealousy, rage or a murderous intent and so on is formed upon genetic elements, education, the environment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-ki-duk/a-person-s-current-personality-of-love-hatred-jealousy-rage-or-a/) [Kim Ki-duk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-ki-duk/) > [Fact is, awards shows were never really about recognizing achievement. They were a publicity ploy cooked up in the late 1920s by MGM topper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/fact-is-awards-shows-were-never-really-about-recognizing-achievement/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [There is a great suspicion of saying that anyone, especially a child, is 'the product of destiny,' or 'formed by fate,' or 'predestined for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-gurian/there-is-a-great-suspicion-of-saying-that-anyone-especially-a-child/) [Michael Gurian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-gurian/) > [Are we not formed, as notes of music are, For one another, though dissimilar?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/are-we-not-formed-as-notes-of-music-are-for-one-another-though/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [The question isn't if someone will sign up for spiritual formation; it's just who and what our spirits will be formed by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/the-question-isn-t-if-someone-will-sign-up-for-spiritual-formation-it/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) Browse all 162 Formed quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "History is formed by the people, those who have power and those without power. 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