--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The selective winnowing of time leaves…" description: "\"The selective winnowing of time leaves only a few recognizable individuals behind for the historian to light on. Thus the historian who finds the human..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/c-v-wedgwood-25710_behinds_the-selective-winnowing-of-time-leaves-o_2275047.jpg" --- # The selective winnowing of time leaves only a few… ![“The selective winnowing of time leaves only a few recognizable individuals behind for the historian to light on. Thus the historian who finds the human being more interesting than what the human being has done must inevitably endow the comparatively few individuals he can identify with too great…” quote by C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/c-v-wedgwood-25710_behinds_the-selective-winnowing-of-time-leaves-o_2275047.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/c-v-wedgwood-25710_behinds_the-selective-winnowing-of-time-leaves-o_2275047.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/c-v-wedgwood-25710_behinds_the-selective-winnowing-of-time-leaves-o_2275047.jpg) > “The selective winnowing of time leaves only a few recognizable individuals behind for the historian to light on. Thus the historian who finds the human being more interesting than what the human being has done must inevitably endow the comparatively few individuals he can identify with too great an importance in relation to their time. Even so, I prefer this overestimate to the opposite method which treats developments as though they were the massive anonymous waves of an unhuman sea or pulverizes the fallible surviving records of human life into the grey dust of statistics.” [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historians often focus on a few notable individuals, inflating their importance, while ignoring broader anonymous forces. **In simple terms:** History can overemphasize individuals over collective trends. Key Takeaway Balance individual stories with systemic analysis. Themes history individuals systems Mood analytical thoughtful Type critical educational When to use this quote - academic research - curriculum design - public history exhibits - media documentaries Key Concepts great man theory structuralism bias interpretation Questions to Reflect On - How can we better integrate collective movements into narratives? - What criteria should limit focusing on single figures? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on individuals can distort understanding of larger forces. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Grey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grey/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Human beings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-beings/) [Human life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Opposites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposites/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Statistics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statistics/) [Surviving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surviving/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Uninhibited, they wallowed with zest in the filth and mire of their political conceptions and needs, among the very leaders of their society, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-l-r-james-2/uninhibited-they-wallowed-with-zest-in-the-filth-and-mire-of-their/) [C.L.R. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-l-r-james-2/) > [My one concern is that Hu Jintao may overestimate how much power China has in Pyongyang. They have - they do have influence, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-gates/my-one-concern-is-that-hu-jintao-may-overestimate-how-much-power/) [Robert M. Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-gates/) > [I think people overestimate the risk of high-risk projects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boyan-slat/i-think-people-overestimate-the-risk-of-high-risk-projects/) [Boyan Slat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/boyan-slat/) > [We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/we-always-overestimate-the-change-that-will-occur-in-the-next-two/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [To measure up to all that is demanded of him, a man must overestimate his capacities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/to-measure-up-to-all-that-is-demanded-of-him-a-man-must-overestimate/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [People always overestimate how complex business is. This isn't rocket science. We've chosen one of the world's simplest professions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-welch/people-always-overestimate-how-complex-business-is-this-isn-t-rocket/) [Jack Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-welch/) > [People often overestimate what will happen in the next two years and underestimate what will happen in ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/people-often-overestimate-what-will-happen-in-the-next-two-years-and/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Reasonably accurate appraisal of one's own capabilities is, therefore, of considerable value in successful functioning. Large misjudgments of personal efficacy in either direction have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-bandura/reasonably-accurate-appraisal-of-one-s-own-capabilities-is-therefore/) [Albert Bandura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-bandura/) > [I'm never going to overestimate the clout of my job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-fender/i-m-never-going-to-overestimate-the-clout-of-my-job/) [Sam Fender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-fender/) > [I have in the past tended to overestimate the amount of change I can affect in the short run and then not fully appreciate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-west/i-have-in-the-past-tended-to-overestimate-the-amount-of-change-i-can/) [Harry West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-west/) > [The size of your problem is nothing compared with your ability to solve them. Don't overestimate your problems and underestimate yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-size-of-your-problem-is-nothing-compared-with-your-ability-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Most people overestimate others' talents and underestimate their own.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orrin-woodward/most-people-overestimate-others-talents-and-underestimate-their-own/) [Orrin Woodward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orrin-woodward/) > [“To overestimate myself is to make myself my own god. To underestimate myself is to make myself my own demon. And the curse of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/to-overestimate-myself-is-to-make-myself-my-own-god-to-underestimate/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [Don't overestimate the decency of the human race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/don-t-overestimate-the-decency-of-the-human-race/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [It is almost impossible to overestimate the value of true humility and its power in the spiritual life. For the beginning of humility is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/it-is-almost-impossible-to-overestimate-the-value-of-true-humility/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) ## More by C. V. Wedgwood > [General knowledge may have to be slight or even amateurish knowledge, but it is none the less useful, and we discourage it at our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/general-knowledge-may-have-to-be-slight-or-even-amateurish-knowledge/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [Without the imaginative insight which goes with creative literature, history cannot be intelligibly written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/without-the-imaginative-insight-which-goes-with-creative-literature/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [We have more to learn today from the spectacle of a great man at a great moment than from any number of monographs on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/we-have-more-to-learn-today-from-the-spectacle-of-a-great-man-at-a/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [Discontent and disorder were signs of energy and hope, not of despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/discontent-and-disorder-were-signs-of-energy-and-hope-not-of-despair/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [History being the record of human action is a richly variegated material, and it is not easy to give a true impression of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/history-being-the-record-of-human-action-is-a-richly-variegated/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [the independence of the artist is one of the great safeguards of the freedom of the human spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/the-independence-of-the-artist-is-one-of-the-great-safeguards-of-the/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [historical research of the truly scholastic kind is not connected with human beings at all. It is a pure study, like higher mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/historical-research-of-the-truly-scholastic-kind-is-not-connected/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [A nation does not create the historians it deserves; the historians are far more likely to create the nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/a-nation-does-not-create-the-historians-it-deserves-the-historians/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [It should be the historian's business not to belittle but to illuminate the greatness of man's spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/it-should-be-the-historian-s-business-not-to-belittle-but-to/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [International politics, by and large, are a depressing study.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/international-politics-by-and-large-are-a-depressing-study/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [For the truth is that men do not desire to be the Common Man any more than they are the Common Man. They need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/for-the-truth-is-that-men-do-not-desire-to-be-the-common-man-any-more/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [Good writing is almost the concomitant of good history. Literature and history were joined long since by the powers which shaped the human brain;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/good-writing-is-almost-the-concomitant-of-good-history-literature-and/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [History, in spite of the occasional protest of historians, will always be used in a general way as a collection of political and moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/history-in-spite-of-the-occasional-protest-of-historians-will-always/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [somewhere about the eighteenth century, history tacitly replaced religion as the school of public morals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/somewhere-about-the-eighteenth-century-history-tacitly-replaced/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) > [For the company of the great is good company as Shakespeare understood it, as Plutarch understood it. The past remains the source from which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/for-the-company-of-the-great-is-good-company-as-shakespeare/) [C. V. Wedgwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) [Explore all 22 C. V. Wedgwood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/) ## More Behinds quotes > [Resist discouragement by speaking His Word over your future. Keep standing. Keep hoping; keep believing because He is working behind the scenes. He's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/resist-discouragement-by-speaking-his-word-over-your-future-keep/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/elections-belong-to-the-people-it-s-their-decision-if-they-decide-to/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Time is painted with a lock before, and bald behind, signifying thereby that we must take time by the forelock; for, when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/time-is-painted-with-a-lock-before-and-bald-behind-signifying-thereby/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [God hides Himself behind causes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-rollin/god-hides-himself-behind-causes/) [Charles Rollin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-rollin/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Behind every word flows energy. If you use your words to gossip or babble about what you are going to do before you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-choquette/behind-every-word-flows-energy-if-you-use-your-words-to-gossip-or/) [Sonia Choquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-choquette/) > [With the realization of God comes all power. If the little wave knew that behind it is the great ocean, it could say, "I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/with-the-realization-of-god-comes-all-power-if-the-little-wave-knew/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [Conservatism is not about leaving people behind. Conservatism is about empowering people to catch up, to give them the tools at their disposable that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/conservatism-is-not-about-leaving-people-behind-conservatism-is-about/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [And the seasons they go 'round and 'round And the painted ponies go up and down We're captive on the carousel of time We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/and-the-seasons-they-go-round-and-round-and-the-painted-ponies-go-up/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [It is worthwhile for anyone to have behind him a few generations of honest, hard-working ancestry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-worthwhile-for-anyone-to-have-behind-him-a-few-generations-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm really thankful to God, man. Like now, I'm really making a real comeback with my group. With or without a record, with or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ike-turner/i-m-really-thankful-to-god-man-like-now-i-m-really-making-a-real/) [Ike Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ike-turner/) > [Empires fall, ids explode, great symphonies are written, and behind all of it is a single instinct that demands satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwin-b-nuland/empires-fall-ids-explode-great-symphonies-are-written-and-behind-all/) [Sherwin B. Nuland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwin-b-nuland/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) Browse all 6,789 Behinds quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The selective winnowing of time leaves only a few recognizable individuals behind for the historian to light on. Thus the historian who finds the human being more interesting than what the human being has done must inevitably endow the comparatively few individuals he can identify with too great an importance in relation to their time. Even so, I prefer this overestimate to the opposite method which treats developments as though they were the massive anonymous waves of an unhuman sea or pulverizes the fallible surviving records of human life into the grey dust of statistics.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "C. V. Wedgwood" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/the-selective-winnowing-of-time-leaves-only-a-few-recognizable/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Behinds" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/the-selective-winnowing-of-time-leaves-only-a-few-recognizable/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/c-v-wedgwood-25710_behinds_the-selective-winnowing-of-time-leaves-o_2275047.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/c-v-wedgwood-25710_behinds_the-selective-winnowing-of-time-leaves-o_2275047.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ec/c-v-wedgwood-25710_behinds_the-selective-winnowing-of-time-leaves-o_2275047.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The selective winnowing of time leaves only a few recognizable individuals behind for the historian to light…” — C. V. Wedgwood", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "C. V. Wedgwood", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-v-wedgwood/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The selective winnowing of time leaves...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/the-selective-winnowing-of-time-leaves-only-a-few-recognizable/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-v-wedgwood/the-selective-winnowing-of-time-leaves-only-a-few-recognizable/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```