--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In five hundred years' time, to the…" description: "\"“In five hundred years' time, to the historian writing the Decline and Fall of the British Empire, this little episode would not exist. There will be p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/graham-greene-441_british-empire_in-five-hundred-years-time-to-the-histor_2976672.jpg" --- # In five hundred years' time, to the historian writing the… ![“In five hundred years' time, to the historian writing the Decline and Fall of the British Empire, this little episode would not exist. There will be plenty of other causes. You and me and poor Jones will not even figure in a footnote. It will be all economics, politics, battles.” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/graham-greene-441_british-empire_in-five-hundred-years-time-to-the-histor_2976672.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/graham-greene-441_british-empire_in-five-hundred-years-time-to-the-histor_2976672.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/graham-greene-441_british-empire_in-five-hundred-years-time-to-the-histor_2976672.jpg) > ““In five hundred years' time, to the historian writing the Decline and Fall of the British Empire, this little episode would not exist. There will be plenty of other causes. You and me and poor Jones will not even figure in a footnote. It will be all economics, politics, battles.”” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historical events often fade into broader forces, eclipsed by economics, politics, and conflict. **In simple terms:** Small stories get lost in big forces. Key Takeaway Remember personal impact amid larger narratives. Themes history humility scale Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical historical When to use this quote - personal memoirs - academic analysis - public discourse Key Concepts historical determinism individual significance Questions to Reflect On - How do we honor personal stories in history? - What role do small events play in shaping larger outcomes? A Different Perspective Individual experiences may be overlooked in macro narratives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [British empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british-empire/) [Decline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decline/) [Historian Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historian-writing-4609457/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Poor Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-jones-4609458/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Writing Decline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-decline-3244346/) ## Related quotes > [It was Rome, on the fifteenth of October, 1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the barefooted friars were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/it-was-rome-on-the-fifteenth-of-october-1764-as-i-sat-musing-amidst/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Every historian has a vested interest. "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" was not about the Roman but the British empire. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-greenaway/every-historian-has-a-vested-interest-the-decline-and-fall-of-the/) [Peter Greenaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-greenaway/) > [Taxation, the very thing that had triggered the British civil wars, would do so again, this time in America. The taxes may have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/taxation-the-very-thing-that-had-triggered-the-british-civil-wars/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [I think the rise of quantitative econometrics and a highly mathematical approach to risk management was the obverse of a decline in interest in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-think-the-rise-of-quantitative-econometrics-and-a-highly/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [By 1917, thanks to the new munitions factories and the women that worked in them, the British Empire was supplying more than 50 million…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-david/by-1917-thanks-to-the-new-munitions-factories-and-the-women-that/) [Saul David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-david/) > [You know, when I was a girl, the idea that the British Empire could ever end was absolutely inconceivable. And it just disappeared, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-when-i-was-a-girl-the-idea-that-the-british-empire-could/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [Happy Independence Day to Pakistan! On this day sixty-six years ago the country gained sovereignty from the British Empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happy-independence-day-to-pakistan-on-this-day-sixty-six-years-ago/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Let it be our endeavour, let it be our task, to keep alight the torch of imperial patriotism, to hold fast the affection and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chamberlain/let-it-be-our-endeavour-let-it-be-our-task-to-keep-alight-the-torch/) [Joseph Chamberlain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chamberlain/) > [A nationally known advertising man wrote me theother day ... to suggest that we tell the truth, i.e., that we are not concerned with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-nationally-known-advertising-man-wrote-me-theother-day-to-suggest/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“First law of poultry farming: keep your livestock busy with trivial problems, so they stay ever oblivious to systemic criminal activities. That's why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/first-law-of-poultry-farming-keep-your-livestock-busy-with-trivial/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [Canada's ruling circles seek to ally themselves more closely with American imperialism without giving up the economic advantages of membership in the British Empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-buck/canada-s-ruling-circles-seek-to-ally-themselves-more-closely-with/) [Tim Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-buck/) > [“People still said that “The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire,” even though the Commonwealth was starting to come apart. In spite of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-two/people-still-said-that-the-sun-never-sets-on-the-british-empire-even/) [Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-two/) > [England are still the only difference in the world was the first British Empire were slaves of the slaves of today's English language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/england-are-still-the-only-difference-in-the-world-was-the-first/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [“Holocaust Theatre (Naskaristana 2799) Most social issues are rooted in religion, most religious issues are rooted in politics, most political issues are vestiges of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/holocaust-theatre-naskaristana-2799-most-social-issues-are-rooted-in/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [the twelve or fifteen millions in the British Empire, who, while they possess no electoral rights, are yet persuaded they are freemen, and who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-cobden/the-twelve-or-fifteen-millions-in-the-british-empire-who-while-they/) [Richard Cobden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-cobden/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More British empire quotes > [the twelve or fifteen millions in the British Empire, who, while they possess no electoral rights, are yet persuaded they are freemen, and who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-cobden/the-twelve-or-fifteen-millions-in-the-british-empire-who-while-they/) [Richard Cobden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-cobden/) > [Taxation, the very thing that had triggered the British civil wars, would do so again, this time in America. The taxes may have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/taxation-the-very-thing-that-had-triggered-the-british-civil-wars/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [“Holocaust Theatre (Naskaristana 2799) Most social issues are rooted in religion, most religious issues are rooted in politics, most political issues are vestiges of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/holocaust-theatre-naskaristana-2799-most-social-issues-are-rooted-in/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [England are still the only difference in the world was the first British Empire were slaves of the slaves of today's English language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/england-are-still-the-only-difference-in-the-world-was-the-first/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [“People still said that “The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire,” even though the Commonwealth was starting to come apart. In spite of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-two/people-still-said-that-the-sun-never-sets-on-the-british-empire-even/) [Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-two/) > [Canada's ruling circles seek to ally themselves more closely with American imperialism without giving up the economic advantages of membership in the British Empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-buck/canada-s-ruling-circles-seek-to-ally-themselves-more-closely-with/) [Tim Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-buck/) > [“First law of poultry farming: keep your livestock busy with trivial problems, so they stay ever oblivious to systemic criminal activities. That's why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/first-law-of-poultry-farming-keep-your-livestock-busy-with-trivial/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [A nationally known advertising man wrote me theother day ... to suggest that we tell the truth, i.e., that we are not concerned with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-nationally-known-advertising-man-wrote-me-theother-day-to-suggest/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Let it be our endeavour, let it be our task, to keep alight the torch of imperial patriotism, to hold fast the affection and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-chamberlain/let-it-be-our-endeavour-let-it-be-our-task-to-keep-alight-the-torch/) [Joseph Chamberlain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-chamberlain/) > [Happy Independence Day to Pakistan! On this day sixty-six years ago the country gained sovereignty from the British Empire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happy-independence-day-to-pakistan-on-this-day-sixty-six-years-ago/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You know, when I was a girl, the idea that the British Empire could ever end was absolutely inconceivable. And it just disappeared, like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/you-know-when-i-was-a-girl-the-idea-that-the-british-empire-could/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [By 1917, thanks to the new munitions factories and the women that worked in them, the British Empire was supplying more than 50 million…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-david/by-1917-thanks-to-the-new-munitions-factories-and-the-women-that/) [Saul David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-david/) > [“After the British victory against Napoleon, Britain was indisputably the leading global power. The British Empire expanded significantly toward Asia, driven by the advances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-river-editors/after-the-british-victory-against-napoleon-britain-was-indisputably/) [Charles River Editors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-river-editors/) > [Savagery was a word that Westerners used to, again, to consciously differentiate them from non-Westerners, to assert that superiority, that cultural superiority. It goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-williams-jr/savagery-was-a-word-that-westerners-used-to-again-to-consciously/) [Robert A. Williams, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-williams-jr/) > [“A dull, decent people, cherishing and fortifying their dullness behind a quarter of a million bayonets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/a-dull-decent-people-cherishing-and-fortifying-their-dullness-behind/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Browse all 169 British empire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british-empire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“In five hundred years' time, to the historian writing the Decline and Fall of the British Empire, this little episode would not exist. There will be plenty of other causes. You and me and poor Jones will not even figure in a footnote. 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