--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: History describes what has happened…" description: "\"“History describes what has happened, poetry what might. Hence poetry is something more philosophic and serious than history; for poetry speaks of what..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a97/aristotle-78_history_history-describes-what-has-happened-poet_2151098.jpg" --- # History describes what has happened, poetry what might… ![“History describes what has happened, poetry what might. Hence poetry is something more philosophic and serious than history; for poetry speaks of what is universal, history of what is particular.” quote by Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a97/aristotle-78_history_history-describes-what-has-happened-poet_2151098.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a97/aristotle-78_history_history-describes-what-has-happened-poet_2151098.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a97/aristotle-78_history_history-describes-what-has-happened-poet_2151098.jpg) > ““History describes what has happened, poetry what might. Hence poetry is something more philosophic and serious than history; for poetry speaks of what is universal, history of what is particular.”” [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry explores universal truths, while history records specific events; poetry is deeper and more philosophical. **In simple terms:** Poetry is universal, history is specific. Key Takeaway Value poetry’s broader insight. Themes art philosophy history Mood thoughtful reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - literary analysis - educational curricula - creative writing - historical research Key Concepts universal truth particular detail Questions to Reflect On - What universal ideas does poetry reveal? - How does history complement poetry? A Different Perspective Poetry may lack factual precision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) ## Related quotes > [Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are of the nature rather of universals, whereas those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/hence-poetry-is-something-more-philosophic-and-of-graver-import-than/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are rather of the nature of universals, whereas those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/hence-poetry-is-something-more-philosophic-and-of-graver-import-than-2/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“The poet's function is to describe, not the thing that has happened, but a kind of thing that might happen, i.e., what is possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-poet-s-function-is-to-describe-not-the-thing-that-has-happened/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [A poet's object is not to tell what actually happened but what could or would happen either probably or inevitably… For this reason poetry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/a-poet-s-object-is-not-to-tell-what-actually-happened-but-what-could/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/poetry-is-finer-and-more-philosophical-than-history-for-poetry/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [People want much the same things, but they have been formed by history to have a particular perception of the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/people-want-much-the-same-things-but-they-have-been-formed-by-history/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [There are times in history where a particular doctrine becomes a symbol of a greater problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-robertson/there-are-times-in-history-where-a-particular-doctrine-becomes-a/) [Pat Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-robertson/) > [History is not only a particular branch of knowledge, but a particular mode and method of knowledge in other branches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/history-is-not-only-a-particular-branch-of-knowledge-but-a-particular/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [A history in which every particular incident may be true may on the whole be false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/a-history-in-which-every-particular-incident-may-be-true-may-on-the/) [Thomas B. 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And it isn't education.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/just-as-someday-if-you-have-something-to-offer-someone-will-learn/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [Exaggerated history is poetry, and truth referred to a new standard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/exaggerated-history-is-poetry-and-truth-referred-to-a-new-standard/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [To separate journalism and poetry, therefore-history and poetry-to set them up at opposite ends of the world of discourse, is to separate seeing from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/to-separate-journalism-and-poetry-therefore-history-and-poetry-to-set/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [in Italy, almost at every step, history and poetry add to the graces of nature, sweeten the memory of the past, and seem to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madame-de-stael/in-italy-almost-at-every-step-history-and-poetry-add-to-the-graces-of/) [Madame de Stael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madame-de-stael/) ## More by Aristotle > [The knowledge of the soul admittedly contributes greatly to the advance of truth in general, and, above all, to our understanding of Nature, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-knowledge-of-the-soul-admittedly-contributes-greatly-to-the/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Young men have strong passions and tend to gratify them indiscriminately. Of the bodily desires, it is the sexual by which they are most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/young-men-have-strong-passions-and-tend-to-gratify-them/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The body is at its best between the ages of thirty and thirty-five; the mind is at its best about the age of forty-nine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-body-is-at-its-best-between-the-ages-of-thirty-and-thirty-five/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Although it may be difficult in theory to know what is just and equal, the practical difficulty of inducing those to forbear who can,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/although-it-may-be-difficult-in-theory-to-know-what-is-just-and-equal/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The true forms of government, therefore, are those in which the one, or the few, or the many, govern with a view to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-true-forms-of-government-therefore-are-those-in-which-the-one-or/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [All men by nature desire to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/all-men-by-nature-desire-to-know/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/all-persons-ought-to-endeavor-to-follow-what-is-right-and-not-what-is/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. 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Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The NBA is my history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-hardaway/the-nba-is-my-history/) [Penny Hardaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-hardaway/) > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) C-DASH > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“History describes what has happened, poetry what might. 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