--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: History is the present. That's why every…" description: "\"History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth.\" — E. L. Doctorow" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/e-l-doctorow-4627_history_history-is-the-present-that-s-why-every_1998887.png" --- # History is the present. That's why every generation writes… ![“History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth.” quote by E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/e-l-doctorow-4627_history_history-is-the-present-that-s-why-every_1998887.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/e-l-doctorow-4627_history_history-is-the-present-that-s-why-every_1998887.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9b/e-l-doctorow-4627_history_history-is-the-present-that-s-why-every_1998887.png) > “History is the present. That's why every generation writes it anew. But what most people think of as history is its end product, myth.” [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) ## 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 continuously reshaped by each generation, turning past events into myths that reflect current values and perspectives. **In simple terms:** History is rewritten by each generation, becoming myth. Key Takeaway Question the narratives you inherit. Themes history memory myth generational perspective Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - education - political discourse - media analysis - family storytelling Key Concepts sociology narrative theory cultural studies Questions to Reflect On - What stories do you accept as history? - How does your generation reinterpret the past? A Different Perspective Myths can obscure factual accuracy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Generation Writes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generation-writes-275827/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History End](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-end-843449/) [History Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-present-1432919/) [Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Think History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-history-362955/) ## Related quotes > [If every nation gets the government it deserves, every generation writes the history which corresponds with its view of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-janeway/if-every-nation-gets-the-government-it-deserves-every-generation/) [Elizabeth Janeway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-janeway/) > [“History is written by every generation. Every generation writes its own history using the same sources. The interpretations vary according to time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teodoro-a-agoncillo/history-is-written-by-every-generation-every-generation-writes-its/) [Teodoro A. Agoncillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teodoro-a-agoncillo/) > [“Let us make sure that future generation writes our biography.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/let-us-make-sure-that-future-generation-writes-our-biography/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [We think we know what we are doing. We have always thought so. We never seem to acknowledge that we have been wrong in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-crichton/we-think-we-know-what-we-are-doing-we-have-always-thought-so-we-never/) [Michael Crichton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-crichton/) > [Great romances in history end in death. Romeo and Juliet, JFK and Jackie, Siegfried and Froi,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinnie/great-romances-in-history-end-in-death-romeo-and-juliet-jfk-and/) [Vinnie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinnie/) > [My goal was to show the history of the end of the Cold War through both sides - the U.S. side and the Soviet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-e-hoffman/my-goal-was-to-show-the-history-of-the-end-of-the-cold-war-through/) [David E. Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-hoffman/) > [There has yet to be a human to survive a span of history without at least one end of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/there-has-yet-to-be-a-human-to-survive-a-span-of-history-without-at/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“recent events compel us to raise anew. From the beginning, the most serious and systematic attempts to write Universal Histories saw the central issue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-fukuyama/recent-events-compel-us-to-raise-anew-from-the-beginning-the-most/) [Francis Fukuyama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-fukuyama/) > [ The most widely discussed formulation of \[the One World model\] was the "end of history" thesis advanced by Francis Fukuyama. "We may be witnessing,"… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-p-huntington/the-most-widely-discussed-formulation-of-the-one-world-model-was-the/) [Samuel P. Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-p-huntington/) > [Before the end of Time will be the end of History. Before the end of History will be the end of Art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/before-the-end-of-time-will-be-the-end-of-history-before-the-end-of/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [When in our isolation we see our lives seeping away as a mere succession of moments, tossed meaninglessly about by accidents and overwhelming events;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-jaspers/when-in-our-isolation-we-see-our-lives-seeping-away-as-a-mere/) [Karl Jaspers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-jaspers/) > [“We need to think hard about what we really want so as to avoid endangering ourselves – especially now that we can not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/read-trepreneur/we-need-to-think-hard-about-what-we-really-want-so-as-to-avoid/) [Read trepreneur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/read-trepreneur/) > [“History, in the end, is only another kind of story, and stories are different from the truth. The truth is messy and chaotic and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-murray/history-in-the-end-is-only-another-kind-of-story-and-stories-are/) [Paul Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-murray/) > [History remains an open horizon that cannot be dismissed through appeals to the end of history or end of ideology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/history-remains-an-open-horizon-that-cannot-be-dismissed-through/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [If patriarchy had a specific beginning in history, it can also have an end](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-mies/if-patriarchy-had-a-specific-beginning-in-history-it-can-also-have-an/) [Maria Mies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-mies/) ## More by E. L. Doctorow > [Things that appear on the front page of the newspaper as 'fact' are far more dangerous than the games played by a novelist, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/things-that-appear-on-the-front-page-of-the-newspaper-as-fact-are-far/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [There are moments when I cannot bear this unremitting consciousness. It knows only itself. Awake, I am in a continuum with my dreams. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/there-are-moments-when-i-cannot-bear-this-unremitting-consciousness/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Most people are quiet in the world, and live in it tentatively, as if it were not their own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/most-people-are-quiet-in-the-world-and-live-in-it-tentatively-as-if/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [It is the immigrant hordes who keep this country alive, the waves of them arriving year after year… Who believes in America more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/it-is-the-immigrant-hordes-who-keep-this-country-alive-the-waves-of/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [A book begins as a private excitement of the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/a-book-begins-as-a-private-excitement-of-the-mind/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I started on computers with 'Billy Bathgate,' a little orange screen with black letters. I thought it was really cool, but it actually slowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-started-on-computers-with-billy-bathgate-a-little-orange-screen/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [When I'm writing, I like to seal everything off and face the wall, not to look outside the window. The only way out is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-i-m-writing-i-like-to-seal-everything-off-and-face-the-wall-not/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Facts are the images of history, just as images are the facts of fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/facts-are-the-images-of-history-just-as-images-are-the-facts-of/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [The nature of good fiction is that it dwells in ambiguity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/the-nature-of-good-fiction-is-that-it-dwells-in-ambiguity/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [Uncharged with invisible meaning, the visible is nothing, mere clay; and without visible circumstance, a territory, to connect to, our spirit is shapeless, nameless,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/uncharged-with-invisible-meaning-the-visible-is-nothing-mere-clay-and/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [“Writing a novel is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/writing-a-novel-is-like-driving-at-night-in-the-fog-you-can-only-see/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I did have a feeling then that the culture of factuality was so dominating that storytelling had lost all its authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-did-have-a-feeling-then-that-the-culture-of-factuality-was-so/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [I got married very early, and in no time at all, we had three children. And it seemed to me I had an obligation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/i-got-married-very-early-and-in-no-time-at-all-we-had-three-children/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [When you're writing a book, you don't really think about it critically. You don't want to know too well what you're doing. First, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/when-you-re-writing-a-book-you-don-t-really-think-about-it-critically/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) > [A writer's life is so hazardous that anything he does is bad for him. Anything that happens to him is bad: failure's bad, success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-l-doctorow/a-writer-s-life-is-so-hazardous-that-anything-he-does-is-bad-for-him/) [E. L. Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) [Explore all 108 E. L. Doctorow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-l-doctorow/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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": "History is the present. 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