--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What we end up calling history is a kind…" description: "\"What we end up calling history is a kind of knife, slicing down through time. A few people are hard enough to bend its edge. But most won't even stand ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/225/barbara-kingsolver-200_blade_what-we-end-up-calling-history-is-a-kind_1616318.png" --- # What we end up calling history is a kind of knife, slicing… ![“What we end up calling history is a kind of knife, slicing down through time. A few people are hard enough to bend its edge. But most won't even stand close to the blade. I'm one of those. We don't bend anything.” quote by Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/225/barbara-kingsolver-200_blade_what-we-end-up-calling-history-is-a-kind_1616318.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/225/barbara-kingsolver-200_blade_what-we-end-up-calling-history-is-a-kind_1616318.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/225/barbara-kingsolver-200_blade_what-we-end-up-calling-history-is-a-kind_1616318.png) > “What we end up calling history is a kind of knife, slicing down through time. A few people are hard enough to bend its edge. But most won't even stand close to the blade. I'm one of those. We don't bend anything.” [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) ## 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 a relentless force that most avoid; only a few confront its harsh reality, but many remain passive. **In simple terms:** History cuts like a knife; most stay away. Key Takeaway Engage actively with history’s lessons. Themes history power passivity Mood thoughtful serious Type historical motivational When to use this quote - education - activism - policy making - community organizing Key Concepts social change agency collective memory Questions to Reflect On - Why do people avoid confronting harsh truths? - How can we become the bendable edge? A Different Perspective Passive acceptance can perpetuate injustice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blade/) [Blades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blades/) [Calling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calling/) [Close Blade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/close-blade-6163462/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-kind-1346151/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Kind Knife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind-knife-4264888/) [Knife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knife/) [Knives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knives/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [What kind of knife is this?” Locke held a rounded buttering utensil up for Chains’ inspection. “It’s all wrong. You couldn’t kill anyone with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-lynch/what-kind-of-knife-is-this-locke-held-a-rounded-buttering-utensil-up/) [Scott Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-lynch/) > [I hate plastic surgery. I have a horror of any kind of knife. I don't like it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-de-mornay/i-hate-plastic-surgery-i-have-a-horror-of-any-kind-of-knife-i-don-t/) [Rebecca De Mornay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-de-mornay/) > [Nothing thicker than a knife's blade separates happiness from melancholy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/nothing-thicker-than-a-knife-s-blade-separates-happiness-from/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [When I was a kid, 'Blade Runner' was my favorite movie. I remember seeing that when I was a little boy with my dad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahmoh-penikett/when-i-was-a-kid-blade-runner-was-my-favorite-movie-i-remember-seeing/) [Tahmoh Penikett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahmoh-penikett/) > [Be tough in the way a blade of grass is: rooted, willing to lean, and at peace with what is around it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/be-tough-in-the-way-a-blade-of-grass-is-rooted-willing-to-lean-and-at/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [I stopped the blade two inches before it touched Andrea’s neck. Because she was my best friend, and sticking knives into your best friend’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/i-stopped-the-blade-two-inches-before-it-touched-andrea-s-neck/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [I really like Blade. I wish people would make hard R-rated fantasy movies again. 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I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-pattinson/i-really-like-blade-i-wish-people-would-make-hard-r-rated-fantasy/) [Robert Pattinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-pattinson/) > [Oh love and hate are two sides of the same blade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-carey/oh-love-and-hate-are-two-sides-of-the-same-blade/) [Jacqueline Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-carey/) > [Tell me that you don’t take that blade and drag it across your skin and pray for the courage to press down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susanna-kaysen/tell-me-that-you-don-t-take-that-blade-and-drag-it-across-your-skin/) [Susanna Kaysen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susanna-kaysen/) > [Make your blade a water-seeking missle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-allsopp/make-your-blade-a-water-seeking-missle/) [Christopher Allsopp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-allsopp/) > [I'm hopelessly In love With the blade That causes All of my Insecurities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ash/i-m-hopelessly-in-love-with-the-blade-that-causes-all-of-my/) [Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ash/) > [Laser technology has fulfilled our people's ancient dream of a blade so fine that the person it cuts remains standing and alive until he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-lerner/laser-technology-has-fulfilled-our-people-s-ancient-dream-of-a-blade/) [Ben Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-lerner/) > [The blade itself incites to deeds of violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-blade-itself-incites-to-deeds-of-violence/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [FlashForward' was a dream come true. 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No wonder people chose Him as their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/jesus-was-a-more-reliable-backer-evidently-less-likely-to-drink/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/now-i-m-starting-to-think-he-wasn-t-supposed-to-be-my-whole-life-he/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [Cooking is 80 percent confidence, a skill best acquired starting from when the apron strings wrap around you twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/cooking-is-80-percent-confidence-a-skill-best-acquired-starting-from/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“In Bobby Ogle's version of heaven everyone would wind up in one place, criminals and Muslims included.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/in-bobby-ogle-s-version-of-heaven-everyone-would-wind-up-in-one-place/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Weeds are job security for the gardener.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/weeds-are-job-security-for-the-gardener/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“It's what you do that makes your soul, not the other way around.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/it-s-what-you-do-that-makes-your-soul-not-the-other-way-around/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Lusa turned to Crys, her eyes shining. 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Europeans celebrate the short season of abundant asparagus as a form…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/respecting-the-dignity-of-a-spectacular-food-means-enjoying-it-at-its/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [“Somehow it had come to pass that this man was her whole world, and she had failed to take his measure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/somehow-it-had-come-to-pass-that-this-man-was-her-whole-world-and-she/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [After 'The Poisonwood Bible' was published, several people believed that my parents were missionaries, which could not be further from the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/after-the-poisonwood-bible-was-published-several-people-believed-that/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [I can count all the ways in which being a mother has enriched my understanding of the world, of character, my sense of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/i-can-count-all-the-ways-in-which-being-a-mother-has-enriched-my/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [But we've all ended up giving body and soul to Africa, one way or another. 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