--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I never thought that history would become…" description: "\"“I never thought that history would become one of my life's passions. I never even liked history when I was at school, apart from the context of litera..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a2/barbara-quick-51183_books_i-never-thought-that-history-would-becom_1057064.jpg" --- # I never thought that history would become one of my life's… ![“I never thought that history would become one of my life's passions. I never even liked history when I was at school, apart from the context of literature, music, and art. But history has lately been revealed to me as the place where I live, where we all live, side by invisible side with others…” quote by Barbara Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a2/barbara-quick-51183_books_i-never-thought-that-history-would-becom_1057064.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a2/barbara-quick-51183_books_i-never-thought-that-history-would-becom_1057064.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a2/barbara-quick-51183_books_i-never-thought-that-history-would-becom_1057064.jpg) > ““I never thought that history would become one of my life's passions. I never even liked history when I was at school, apart from the context of literature, music, and art. But history has lately been revealed to me as the place where I live, where we all live, side by invisible side with others who - if we get quiet enough and listen carefully enough - will touch us and tell us their stories.”” [Barbara Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-quick/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She describes how personal engagement with history transforms it from a distant subject into a shared, lived experience that connects people. **In simple terms:** History becomes personal when we listen to others' stories. Key Takeaway Listen to diverse narratives to feel connected. Themes history empathy storytelling identity community Mood thoughtful empathetic inspired Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - museum visits - family oral histories - community projects - educational curricula - personal reflection Key Concepts collective memory personal narrative social cohesion Questions to Reflect On - Whose stories are missing from mainstream history? - How can we honor multiple perspectives? A Different Perspective Historical narratives can be contested, making shared understanding challenging. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) ## Related quotes > [But I regret not having liked history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-herzigova/but-i-regret-not-having-liked-history/) [Eva Herzigova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-herzigova/) > [I always wanted to try to be a teacher even before I was in the music business. I liked history, and good teachers made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-joel/i-always-wanted-to-try-to-be-a-teacher-even-before-i-was-in-the-music/) [Billy Joel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-joel/) > [Communists liked history very much. It just had to be the right history. They liked to remember it selectively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-finlay/communists-liked-history-very-much-it-just-had-to-be-the-right/) [Victoria Finlay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-finlay/) > [“But why hadn't the TV set reverted instead to formless metals and plastics? Those, after all, were its constituents; it had been constructed out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/but-why-hadn-t-the-tv-set-reverted-instead-to-formless-metals-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [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/) > [“And I thought:History is like a horror story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-bola-o/and-i-thought-history-is-like-a-horror-story/) [Roberto Bolaño](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-bola-o/) > [I was a guy who was born in Cardiff and thought, there must be more to my history than that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakin-stevens/i-was-a-guy-who-was-born-in-cardiff-and-thought-there-must-be-more-to/) [Shakin' Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakin-stevens/) > [It is difficult at times to repress the thought that history is about as instructive as an abattoir.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-difficult-at-times-to-repress-the-thought-that-history-is-about/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I always thought of history of being alive something about real people who were doing things that meant something, and it wasn't just data…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-minkoff/i-always-thought-of-history-of-being-alive-something-about-real/) [Rob Minkoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-minkoff/) > [“While many Greeks (although not Thucydides) thought that history moved in circles, repeating itself infinitely, the Jewish idea that each event was singular and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-f-cantor/while-many-greeks-although-not-thucydides-thought-that-history-moved/) [Norman F. Cantor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-f-cantor/) > [How about that? That's the first time in the history of the school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calipari/how-about-that-that-s-the-first-time-in-the-history-of-the-school/) [John Calipari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calipari/) > [I'm somewhat horrified because I don't think the young people today even know what history is. Some of them don't' even study History at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-sutherland/i-m-somewhat-horrified-because-i-don-t-think-the-young-people-today/) [Joan Sutherland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-sutherland/) > [I enjoyed history at school. I'd always had a sense of pagan England.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/damon-albarn/i-enjoyed-history-at-school-i-d-always-had-a-sense-of-pagan-england/) [Damon Albarn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/damon-albarn/) > [I don't think it's such a bad idea that people learn the same history in school. I think it tends to ground people and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-christgau/i-don-t-think-it-s-such-a-bad-idea-that-people-learn-the-same-history/) [Robert Christgau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-christgau/) > [I knew nothing of American History because I didn't pay attention to American History in school. Because I did not see myself in American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/okieriete-onaodowan/i-knew-nothing-of-american-history-because-i-didn-t-pay-attention-to/) [Okieriete Onaodowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/okieriete-onaodowan/) ## More by Barbara Quick > [“I don't have any words to describe the sensations that keep me from sleep. Demons, perhaps. A sense of unworthiness so staggering that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-quick/i-don-t-have-any-words-to-describe-the-sensations-that-keep-me-from/) [Barbara Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-quick/) > [“Whoever says that girls are kind has never lived among them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-quick/whoever-says-that-girls-are-kind-has-never-lived-among-them/) [Barbara Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-quick/) > [“I gauge the closeness of my friends even now by how helplessly they can make me laugh.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-quick/i-gauge-the-closeness-of-my-friends-even-now-by-how-helplessly-they/) [Barbara Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-quick/) > [“The sky on a clear night is a living, pulsating thing. The stars are like musical notes turned to light, and, like notes, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-quick/the-sky-on-a-clear-night-is-a-living-pulsating-thing-the-stars-are/) [barbara quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-quick/) > [“The legends on the tombstones are eventually worn away as the stone is eroded by rain and wind and centuries. Better to slip away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-quick/the-legends-on-the-tombstones-are-eventually-worn-away-as-the-stone/) [Barbara Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-quick/) > [ “You've done her a service to teach her that romantic love is largely made of illusion." \[said Mina.\] "Is it?" Alessandra asked, unable to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-quick/you-ve-done-her-a-service-to-teach-her-that-romantic-love-is-largely/) [Barbara Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-quick/) [Explore all 7 Barbara Quick quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-quick/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. Krebs > [“Take some books and read; that’s an immense help; and books are always good company if you have the right sort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/take-some-books-and-read-that-s-an-immense-help-and-books-are-always/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I never thought that history would become one of my life's passions. I never even liked history when I was at school, apart from the context of literature, music, and art. 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