--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: History is nothing but a problem of…" description: "\"History is nothing but a problem of mechanics applied to psychology.\" — Hippolyte Taine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/hippolyte-taine-23642_history_history-is-nothing-but-a-problem-of-mech_543910.jpg" --- # History is nothing but a problem of mechanics applied to… ![“History is nothing but a problem of mechanics applied to psychology.” quote by Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/hippolyte-taine-23642_history_history-is-nothing-but-a-problem-of-mech_543910.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/hippolyte-taine-23642_history_history-is-nothing-but-a-problem-of-mech_543910.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/hippolyte-taine-23642_history_history-is-nothing-but-a-problem-of-mech_543910.jpg) > “History is nothing but a problem of mechanics applied to psychology.” [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) ## 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 a mechanical process applied to human psychology, reducing complex events to cause and effect. **In simple terms:** History reduces human behavior to mechanics. Key Takeaway Consider human motives beyond mechanics. Themes history psychology mechanics causality reductionism Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - academic research - policy analysis - education - media reporting Key Concepts determinism human agency social science Questions to Reflect On - Can all historical events be explained mechanically? - What role does free will play? A Different Perspective Mechanical view may ignore agency and nuance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Mechanic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mechanic/) [Mechanics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mechanics/) [Physics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [We are raising a generation of young Americans who are, to a very large degree, historically illiterate. It's not their faults. There's no problem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/we-are-raising-a-generation-of-young-americans-who-are-to-a-very/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [In the great non zero sum games of history, if you're part of the problem, then you'll likely be a victim of the solution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wright/in-the-great-non-zero-sum-games-of-history-if-you-re-part-of-the/) [Robert Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wright/) > [When I looked into the mechanics of being a businessman, I found it wasn't rocket science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donny-deutsch/when-i-looked-into-the-mechanics-of-being-a-businessman-i-found-it/) [Donny Deutsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donny-deutsch/) > [I don't think people care about the mechanics of songwriting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-jagger/i-don-t-think-people-care-about-the-mechanics-of-songwriting/) [Mick Jagger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-jagger/) > [You have to look for teachers. If you want to be a mechanic, go hang out with mechanics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/you-have-to-look-for-teachers-if-you-want-to-be-a-mechanic-go-hang/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [All this, the positive and physical essence of mechanics, which makes its chief and highest interest for a student of nature, is in existing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mach/all-this-the-positive-and-physical-essence-of-mechanics-which-makes/) [Ernst Mach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mach/) > [It's all about mechanics; all the weight-lifting in the world can't help you if you're not running correctly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-bramlett/it-s-all-about-mechanics-all-the-weight-lifting-in-the-world-can-t/) Ron Bramlett > [The history of the development of mechanics is quite indispensable to a full comprehension of the science in its present condition. It also affords…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernst-mach/the-history-of-the-development-of-mechanics-is-quite-indispensable-to/) [Ernst Mach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernst-mach/) > [The Book of the science of Mechanics must precede the Book of useful inventions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/the-book-of-the-science-of-mechanics-must-precede-the-book-of-useful/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [I don't like running when I'm holding things in my hand, whether it's a dog leash or a baby jogger. My mechanics get all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kai-ryssdal/i-don-t-like-running-when-i-m-holding-things-in-my-hand-whether-it-s/) [Kai Ryssdal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kai-ryssdal/) > [I became more and more interested in the mechanics of creativity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genrich-altshuller/i-became-more-and-more-interested-in-the-mechanics-of-creativity/) Genrich Altshuller > [If you have nothing in quantum mechanics, you will always have something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-m-krauss/if-you-have-nothing-in-quantum-mechanics-you-will-always-have/) [Lawrence M. Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-m-krauss/) > [Game mechanics are the core of what a game truly is. They are the interactions and relationships that remain when all of the aesthetics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-schell/game-mechanics-are-the-core-of-what-a-game-truly-is-they-are-the/) [Jesse Schell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-schell/) > [Golf is 20 percent mechanics and technique. The other 80 pecent is philosophy, humor, tragedy, romance, melodrama, companionship, camaraderie, cussedness and conversation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grantland-rice/golf-is-20-percent-mechanics-and-technique-the-other-80-pecent-is/) [Grantland Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grantland-rice/) > [I hadn't focused on mechanics since I signed professionally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-zito/i-hadn-t-focused-on-mechanics-since-i-signed-professionally/) [Barry Zito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-zito/) ## More by Hippolyte Taine > [There are four varieties in society — the lovers, the ambitious, observers, and fools. The fools are the happiest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/there-are-four-varieties-in-society-the-lovers-the-ambitious/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [The more I study the things of the mind the more mathematical I find them. In them as in mathematics it is a question…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/the-more-i-study-the-things-of-the-mind-the-more-mathematical-i-find/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [Four varieties in society: lovers, the ambitious, observers, and fools. The fools are the happiest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/four-varieties-in-society-lovers-the-ambitious-observers-and-fools/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [After the collection of facts, the search for causes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/after-the-collection-of-facts-the-search-for-causes/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [“Not only does the State do the work badly on a domain not its own, bunglingly, at greater cost, and with less fruit than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/not-only-does-the-state-do-the-work-badly-on-a-domain-not-its-own/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [For thirty centuries, from her sacred seat the cat looked down, and crouching at her feet, beheld the race of conquering Pharaohs kneel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/for-thirty-centuries-from-her-sacred-seat-the-cat-looked-down-and/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [We study ourselves three weeks, we love each other three months, we squabble three years, we tolerate each other thirty years, and then the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/we-study-ourselves-three-weeks-we-love-each-other-three-months-we/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [Man may be considered as a superior species of animal that produces philosophies and poems in about the same way a silkworm produces their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/man-may-be-considered-as-a-superior-species-of-animal-that-produces/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [In the stormy current of life characters are weights or floats which at one time make us glide along the bottom, and at another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/in-the-stormy-current-of-life-characters-are-weights-or-floats-which/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [Change a virtue in its circumstances find it becomes a vice; change a vice in its circumstances, and it becomes a virtue. Regard the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/change-a-virtue-in-its-circumstances-find-it-becomes-a-vice-change-a/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [The search for causes must come after the collection of facts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/the-search-for-causes-must-come-after-the-collection-of-facts/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [His tongue is by turns a sponge, a brush, a comb. He cleans himself, he smooths himself, he knows what is proper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/his-tongue-is-by-turns-a-sponge-a-brush-a-comb-he-cleans-himself-he/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [There are as many kinds of modesty as there are races. To the English woman it is a duty; to the French woman a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/there-are-as-many-kinds-of-modesty-as-there-are-races-to-the-english/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [The production of a work of art is determined by the material and intellectual climate in which a man lives and dies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/the-production-of-a-work-of-art-is-determined-by-the-material-and/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) > [A fixed idea is like the iron rod which sculptors put in their statues. It impales and sustains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/a-fixed-idea-is-like-the-iron-rod-which-sculptors-put-in-their/) [Hippolyte Taine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) [Explore all 24 Hippolyte Taine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/) ## 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": "History is nothing but a problem of mechanics applied to psychology.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hippolyte Taine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/history-is-nothing-but-a-problem-of-mechanics-applied-to-psychology/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/history-is-nothing-but-a-problem-of-mechanics-applied-to-psychology/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/hippolyte-taine-23642_history_history-is-nothing-but-a-problem-of-mech_543910.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/hippolyte-taine-23642_history_history-is-nothing-but-a-problem-of-mech_543910.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/21d/hippolyte-taine-23642_history_history-is-nothing-but-a-problem-of-mech_543910.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“History is nothing but a problem of mechanics applied to psychology.” — Hippolyte Taine", "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": "Hippolyte Taine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippolyte-taine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "History is nothing but a problem...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/history-is-nothing-but-a-problem-of-mechanics-applied-to-psychology/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippolyte-taine/history-is-nothing-but-a-problem-of-mechanics-applied-to-psychology/#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 } } ] } ```