--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People need history in order to know…" description: "\"“People need history in order to know themselves, to build a sense of identity and pride, continuity, community, and hope for the future.”\" — Douglas P..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/douglas-preston-7731_history_people-need-history-in-order-to-know-the_389067.jpg" --- # People need history in order to know themselves, to build… ![“People need history in order to know themselves, to build a sense of identity and pride, continuity, community, and hope for the future.” quote by Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/douglas-preston-7731_history_people-need-history-in-order-to-know-the_389067.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/douglas-preston-7731_history_people-need-history-in-order-to-know-the_389067.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/douglas-preston-7731_history_people-need-history-in-order-to-know-the_389067.jpg) > ““People need history in order to know themselves, to build a sense of identity and pride, continuity, community, and hope for the future.”” [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. History provides a foundation for personal and collective identity, fostering pride, continuity, community, and future hope. **In simple terms:** History builds identity and hope. Key Takeaway Use history to understand roots and inspire future actions. Themes identity pride continuity community hope future Mood reflective optimistic Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - Education curricula - community storytelling - museum exhibits - family heritage projects Key Concepts Collective memory narrative identity cultural continuity Questions to Reflect On - What lessons from history can guide current challenges? - How does personal history shape community cohesion? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on past can hinder innovation if not balanced with forward thinking. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Hope for the future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope-for-the-future/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Being LGBT is not a choice. It's not about "a sexual proclivity." It's not a "lifestyle," as you put it. It's about our identity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-petrow/being-lgbt-is-not-a-choice-it-s-not-about-a-sexual-proclivity-it-s/) [Steven Petrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-petrow/) > [Racial identity is simply forbidden to whites in America and across the entire Western world. Black children today are hammered with the idea of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/racial-identity-is-simply-forbidden-to-whites-in-america-and-across/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [One's worth and self-regard ought to come from individual competitive performance, not from group identity. Pride based on clan or tribal connections is atavistic.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-a-henry-iii/one-s-worth-and-self-regard-ought-to-come-from-individual-competitive/) [William A. Henry III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-henry-iii/) > [“The notion that one must know history in order to understand the present has a certain justification when applied to the history of events,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-heinrich/the-notion-that-one-must-know-history-in-order-to-understand-the/) Michael Heinrich > [I study history in order to give an interpretation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-stone/i-study-history-in-order-to-give-an-interpretation/) [Oliver Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-stone/) > [Part of the main plan of imperialism... is that we will give you your history, we will write it for you, we will re-order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/part-of-the-main-plan-of-imperialism-is-that-we-will-give-you-your/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [I needed to talk about my real personal history, in order to become free of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-needed-to-talk-about-my-real-personal-history-in-order-to-become/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [We study history in order to intervene in the course of history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-von-harnack/we-study-history-in-order-to-intervene-in-the-course-of-history/) Adolf von Harnack > [“People wait until they have a need for some history and then they customize it to suit their purposes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/people-wait-until-they-have-a-need-for-some-history-and-then-they/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [We need history, not to tell us what happened or to explain the past, but to make the past alive so that it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/we-need-history-not-to-tell-us-what-happened-or-to-explain-the-past/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [I think that we need history as much as we need bread or water or love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/i-think-that-we-need-history-as-much-as-we-need-bread-or-water-or-love/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [People need their history like they need air and food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-robinson/people-need-their-history-like-they-need-air-and-food/) [Randall Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-robinson/) > [Men need history; it helps them to have an idea of who they are. But history, like sanctity, can reside in the heart; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-naipaul/men-need-history-it-helps-them-to-have-an-idea-of-who-they-are-but/) [V. S. Naipaul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-naipaul/) > [We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carter-g-woodson-2/we-should-emphasize-not-negro-history-but-the-negro-in-history-what/) Carter G Woodson > [Home is where I am. Sadly, I don't need a history to be able to exist somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-hunger/home-is-where-i-am-sadly-i-don-t-need-a-history-to-be-able-to-exist/) [Sophie Hunger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-hunger/) ## More by Douglas Preston > [“The Tyrannosaurus rex was a creature of the jungle. She lived in the deepest forests and swamps of North America, not long after it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/the-tyrannosaurus-rex-was-a-creature-of-the-jungle-she-lived-in-the/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [“William Duncan Strong was a scholar, a man ahead of his time: quiet, careful and meticulous in his work, averse to spectacle and publicity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/william-duncan-strong-was-a-scholar-a-man-ahead-of-his-time-quiet/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [I need to write in a small room - the smaller the better. I can't write in a big room where someone might sneak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/i-need-to-write-in-a-small-room-the-smaller-the-better-i-can-t-write/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [“Global warming has opened the southern door of the United States not just to leish but to many other diseases. The big ones now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/global-warming-has-opened-the-southern-door-of-the-united-states-not/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [“Boxer altered his course subtly, as if that was the way he'd already been going, not looking up to acknowledge he had heard, letting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/boxer-altered-his-course-subtly-as-if-that-was-the-way-he-d-already/) [douglas preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [“A strange, pale figure emerged—Pendergast?—and she felt herself suddenly in his arms, lifted bodily as if she were a child again, her head cradled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/a-strange-pale-figure-emerged-pendergast-and-she-felt-herself/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [I'm pretty much a 9-to-5 kind of guy. I usually get to work about 8 in the morning, and I work until 4 or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/i-m-pretty-much-a-9-to-5-kind-of-guy-i-usually-get-to-work-about-8-in/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [“When the team excavated, they uncovered the shattered ruins of a fortress, over fifteen centuries old, with massive walls and eight towers, matching the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/when-the-team-excavated-they-uncovered-the-shattered-ruins-of-a/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [There are so many journalists out there, I hate to say it, who are lazy and don't do their research - and it shows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/there-are-so-many-journalists-out-there-i-hate-to-say-it-who-are-lazy/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [“What the hell was your pal Bertin demanding?” he asked. “Sipping syrup?” “It’s a cocktail he prefers when he gets, ah, overly excited.” “A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/what-the-hell-was-your-pal-bertin-demanding-he-asked-sipping-syrup-it/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [“No civilization has survived forever. All move toward dissolution, one after the other, like waves of the sea falling upon the shore. None, including…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/no-civilization-has-survived-forever-all-move-toward-dissolution-one/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [“She’s more a daiquiri and margarita drinker.”“We all have our flaws,” said Pendergast.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/she-s-more-a-daiquiri-and-margarita-drinker-we-all-have-our-flaws/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [Pirate Hunters is a fantastic book, an utterly engrossing and satisfying read. It tells the story of the hunt for the rare wreck of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/pirate-hunters-is-a-fantastic-book-an-utterly-engrossing-and/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [“Religion arose as an effort to explicate the inexplicable, control the uncontrollable, make bearable the unbearable. Belief in a higher power became the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/religion-arose-as-an-effort-to-explicate-the-inexplicable-control-the/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) > [“Charles backed down. He is reputed to have said, Capon, Capon, vous êtes un mauvais chapon. ‘Capon, Capon, you are one evil chicken.’ ”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/charles-backed-down-he-is-reputed-to-have-said-capon-capon-vous-tes/) [Douglas Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) [Explore all 80 Douglas Preston quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/) ## More History quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. 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": "“People need history in order to know themselves, to build a sense of identity and pride, continuity, community, and hope for the future.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Douglas Preston" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/people-need-history-in-order-to-know-themselves-to-build-a-sense-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/people-need-history-in-order-to-know-themselves-to-build-a-sense-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/douglas-preston-7731_history_people-need-history-in-order-to-know-the_389067.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/douglas-preston-7731_history_people-need-history-in-order-to-know-the_389067.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/douglas-preston-7731_history_people-need-history-in-order-to-know-the_389067.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“People need history in order to know themselves, to build a sense of identity and pride, continuity…” — Douglas Preston", "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": "Douglas Preston", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-preston/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“People need history in order to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/people-need-history-in-order-to-know-themselves-to-build-a-sense-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-preston/people-need-history-in-order-to-know-themselves-to-build-a-sense-of/#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 } } ] } ```