Music Quote by Bill Bryson
““A. L. Rowse—who, it must be said, never allowed an absence of certainty to get in the way of a conclusion—in 1973 identified the dark lady as Emilia Bassano, daughter of one of the queen’s musicians, and, with a certain thrust of literary jaw, asserted that his conclusions “cannot be impugned, for they are the answer,” even though they are unsupported by anything that might reasonably be termed proof.””
About This Quote
Source Book: “A Short History of Nearly Everything”, 2003
Bryson critiques Rowse’s confident but unsupported claim that Emilia Bassano is Shakespeare’s “Dark Lady,” noting the lack of solid evidence.
In simple terms: Questioning a bold literary claim without proof.
Key Takeaway
Demand evidence for historic assertions.
Themes
literary criticism
historical methodology
authorial attribution
Mood
skeptical
inquisitive
analytical
Type
claim
critique
When to use this quote
- academic research
- literary debate
- historical inquiry
Key Concepts
critical analysis
scholarly rigor
evidence standards
Questions to Reflect On
- What standards should govern literary attribution?
- How does certainty affect interpretation?
A Different Perspective
May oversimplify complex scholarship.
![“Downloading's the same as what I used to do. I used to tape the charts of the songs I liked [off the radio]. I don't mind it. I hate all these big, silly rock stars who moan. At least they're fuckin' downloading your music, you cunt, and paying attention, know what I mean? You should fuckin'…” quote by Liam Gallagher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0c7/liam-gallagher-12691_liam-gallagher_downloading-s-the-same-as-what-i-used-to_369.jpg)
