--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: History is preoccupied with fundamental…" description: "\"History is preoccupied with fundamental processes of change. If you are allergic to these processes, you abandon history and take cover in the social s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/edward-hallett-carr-30775_abandon_history-is-preoccupied-with-fundamental_2967167.jpg" --- # History is preoccupied with fundamental processes of… ![“History is preoccupied with fundamental processes of change. If you are allergic to these processes, you abandon history and take cover in the social sciences. Today anthropology, sociology, etc, flourish. History is sick. But then our society too is sick” quote by Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/edward-hallett-carr-30775_abandon_history-is-preoccupied-with-fundamental_2967167.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/edward-hallett-carr-30775_abandon_history-is-preoccupied-with-fundamental_2967167.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d48/edward-hallett-carr-30775_abandon_history-is-preoccupied-with-fundamental_2967167.jpg) > “History is preoccupied with fundamental processes of change. If you are allergic to these processes, you abandon history and take cover in the social sciences. Today anthropology, sociology, etc, flourish. History is sick. But then our society too is sick” [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. History focuses on change; rejecting it leads to retreat into social sciences, implying both fields are diseased. **In simple terms:** Rejecting change leads to intellectual retreat. Key Takeaway Embrace change to understand history. Themes history change disciplinary tension Mood analytical skeptical Type academic critical When to use this quote - academic research - policy analysis - education reform Key Concepts philosophy of history social theory intellectual humility Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance change and stability? - What role should social sciences play in history? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on change can ignore continuity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anthropology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anthropology/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Our society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-society/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Process of change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process-of-change/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Sick society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sick-society/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-science/) [Sociology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sociology/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) ## Related quotes > [Conformity to a sick society is to be sick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-j-foster/conformity-to-a-sick-society-is-to-be-sick/) [Richard J. Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-j-foster/) > [The only reality is our society, and I mean this seriously, Western Society is a very sick society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-walton/the-only-reality-is-our-society-and-i-mean-this-seriously-western/) [Rob Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-walton/) > [“As a society, we have become so sick, weak, and broken, we accept the abnormal as normal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robb-wolf/as-a-society-we-have-become-so-sick-weak-and-broken-we-accept-the/) [Robb Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robb-wolf/) > [When someone has to intervene to defend the liberty of the press, that society is sick.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/when-someone-has-to-intervene-to-defend-the-liberty-of-the-press-that/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [This process of change since my stroke has been very gradual. It is going on all the time... It is partly a physical transformation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bede-griffiths/this-process-of-change-since-my-stroke-has-been-very-gradual-it-is/) [Bede Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bede-griffiths/) > [Life is a constant process of change, for better or worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-winters/life-is-a-constant-process-of-change-for-better-or-worse/) [Shelley Winters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-winters/) > [The divine process of change manifests itself to our human understanding . . . as punishment, torment, death, and transfiguration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/the-divine-process-of-change-manifests-itself-to-our-human/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The process of change does not occur on superficial levels, through mere 'positive thinking.' It involves exploring, discovering, and changing our deepest, most basic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakti-gawain/the-process-of-change-does-not-occur-on-superficial-levels-through/) [Shakti Gawain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakti-gawain/) > [Have I said clearly enough that the Community we created is not an end in itself? It is a process of change, continuing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-monnet/have-i-said-clearly-enough-that-the-community-we-created-is-not-an/) [Jean Monnet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-monnet/) > [No civilisation, not even that of ancient Greece, has ever undergone such a continuous and profound process of change as Western Europe has done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-dawson/no-civilisation-not-even-that-of-ancient-greece-has-ever-undergone/) [Christopher Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-dawson/) > [Humans tend to start the process of change by acknowledging themselves. 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Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-r-miller/) > [You can do anything you decide to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-earhart/you-can-do-anything-you-decide-to-do/) [Amelia Earhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-earhart/) > [The sun, moving as it does, sets up processes of change and becoming and decay, and by its agency the finest and sweetest water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-sun-moving-as-it-does-sets-up-processes-of-change-and-becoming/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Change is the process by which the future invades our lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-toffler/change-is-the-process-by-which-the-future-invades-our-lives/) [Alvin Toffler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvin-toffler/) ## More by Edward Hallett Carr > [History is the long struggle of man, by exercise of his reason, to understand his environment and to act upon it. But the modern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/history-is-the-long-struggle-of-man-by-exercise-of-his-reason-to/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [“If we can widen the range of experiences beyond what we as individuals have encountered, if we can draw upon the experiences of others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/if-we-can-widen-the-range-of-experiences-beyond-what-we-as/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [The facts are really not at all like fish on the fishmonger's slab. They are like fish swimming about in a vast and sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/the-facts-are-really-not-at-all-like-fish-on-the-fishmonger-s-slab/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [Study the historian before you begin to study the facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/study-the-historian-before-you-begin-to-study-the-facts/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [Change is certain. Progress is not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/change-is-certain-progress-is-not/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [It is significant that the nationalization of thought has proceded everywhere pari passu with the nationalization of industry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/it-is-significant-that-the-nationalization-of-thought-has-proceded/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [“Good historians...have the future in their bones”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/good-historians-have-the-future-in-their-bones/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [“Progress in human affairs, whether in science or in history or in society, has come mainly through the bold readiness of human beings not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/progress-in-human-affairs-whether-in-science-or-in-history-or-in/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [History in Burckhardt's words is 'the record of what one age finds worthy of note in another.' The past is intelligible to us only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/history-in-burckhardt-s-words-is-the-record-of-what-one-age-finds/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [History consists of a corpus ascertained facts. The facts are available to the historian in documents, inscriptions and so on, like fish in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/history-consists-of-a-corpus-ascertained-facts-the-facts-are/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [The facts speak only when the historian calls on them: it is he who decides to which facts to give the floor, and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/the-facts-speak-only-when-the-historian-calls-on-them-it-is-he-who/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [The function off the historian is neither to love the past nor to emancipate himself from the past, but to master and understand it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/the-function-off-the-historian-is-neither-to-love-the-past-nor-to/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [“Immature thought is predominately purposive and utopian. Thought which rejects purpose altogether is the thought of old age. Mature thought combines purpose with observation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/immature-thought-is-predominately-purposive-and-utopian-thought-which/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [What distinguishes the historian from the collector of historical facts is generalization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hallett-carr/what-distinguishes-the-historian-from-the-collector-of-historical/) [Edward Hallett Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hallett-carr/) > [Good historians, I suspect, whether they think about it or not, have the future in their bones. 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