--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We mythologists know very well that myths…" description: "\"We mythologists know very well that myths and legends contain borrowings, moral lessons, nature cycles, and a hundred other distorting influences, and ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/074/isaac-asimov-309_borrowing_we-mythologists-know-very-well-that-myth_3092919.jpg" --- # We mythologists know very well that myths and legends… ![“We mythologists know very well that myths and legends contain borrowings, moral lessons, nature cycles, and a hundred other distorting influences, and we labor to cut them away and get to what might be a kernel of truth. In fact, these same techniques must be applied to the most sober histories…” quote by Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/074/isaac-asimov-309_borrowing_we-mythologists-know-very-well-that-myth_3092919.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/074/isaac-asimov-309_borrowing_we-mythologists-know-very-well-that-myth_3092919.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/074/isaac-asimov-309_borrowing_we-mythologists-know-very-well-that-myth_3092919.jpg) > “We mythologists know very well that myths and legends contain borrowings, moral lessons, nature cycles, and a hundred other distorting influences, and we labor to cut them away and get to what might be a kernel of truth. In fact, these same techniques must be applied to the most sober histories, for no one writes the clear and apparent truth-if such a thing can even be said to exist.” [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Myths and legends are layered with biases; historians must strip these layers to approach any core truth. **In simple terms:** History is filtered through myths; we must peel back layers. Key Takeaway Critically examine sources for hidden biases. Themes history mythology truth analysis Mood inquisitive skeptical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - academic research - media literacy - personal belief systems Key Concepts critical thinking source evaluation Questions to Reflect On - What biases might you overlook? - How can we trust any narrative? A Different Perspective Some truths may be unknowable or subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Borrowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrowing/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Legends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legends/) [Lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lessons/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth/) [Myths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myths/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Sober](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sober/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Technique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technique/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [Texas is so wrapped up in myth and legend, it's hard to know what the state and its people are really about. Real Texans,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-r-lansdale/texas-is-so-wrapped-up-in-myth-and-legend-it-s-hard-to-know-what-the/) [Joe R. Lansdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-r-lansdale/) > [“Her sister Lea had an ancient book of myths and legends, and there was all kinds of info in there - of course Lea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bethany-lovell/her-sister-lea-had-an-ancient-book-of-myths-and-legends-and-there-was/) [Bethany Lovell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bethany-lovell/) > [Don't fret, boy. I'm not so foolish as to ridicule the myths and legends of other people. For countless generations, people, no matter where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nahoko-uehashi/don-t-fret-boy-i-m-not-so-foolish-as-to-ridicule-the-myths-and/) [Nahoko Uehashi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nahoko-uehashi/) > [There's always someone who secretly believes in myths and legends; or at least parts of them. Those are the people who will look beyond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aprilynne-pike/there-s-always-someone-who-secretly-believes-in-myths-and-legends-or/) [Aprilynne Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aprilynne-pike/) > [“Myths and legends, either about divinities or the formation and history of peoples and races, began to look like pictures on a jigsaw puzzle,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/myths-and-legends-either-about-divinities-or-the-formation-and/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafón](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [Myths and legends die hard in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/myths-and-legends-die-hard-in-america/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [Horrors, I believe, should be original - the use of common myths and legends being a weakening influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-p-lovecraft/horrors-i-believe-should-be-original-the-use-of-common-myths-and/) [H. P. Lovecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-p-lovecraft/) > [Myths, legends and stories are the signposts previous generations have left us so we don't have to figure out our own personal journey in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-van-lente/myths-legends-and-stories-are-the-signposts-previous-generations-have/) [Fred Van Lente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-van-lente/) > [By means of our myths and legends we maintain a sense of what we are worth and who we are. Without them we should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moorcock/by-means-of-our-myths-and-legends-we-maintain-a-sense-of-what-we-are/) [Michael Moorcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moorcock/) > [I'm not certain that I draw from any one culture more than others. Many myths and legends of many different cultures are really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jordan/i-m-not-certain-that-i-draw-from-any-one-culture-more-than-others/) [Robert Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jordan/) > [Myths and legends die hard in America. We love them for the extra dimension they provide, the illusion of near-infinite possibility to erase the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-s-thompson/myths-and-legends-die-hard-in-america-we-love-them-for-the-extra/) [Hunter S. Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-s-thompson/) > [As a kid, I was obsessed with myths and legends and the haunting beauty of gothic stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-parsons/as-a-kid-i-was-obsessed-with-myths-and-legends-and-the-haunting/) [Nathan Parsons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-parsons/) > [“One measure of how deeply these myths express elemental human concerns is the extent to which they are both timeless and universal. Mythologists and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mark/one-measure-of-how-deeply-these-myths-express-elemental-human/) Margaret Mark > [Children are natural mythologists: they beg to be told tales, and love not only to invent but to enact falsehoods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/children-are-natural-mythologists-they-beg-to-be-told-tales-and-love/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [Great portrait photographers are great mythologists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/great-portrait-photographers-are-great-mythologists/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## More by Isaac Asimov > [The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/the-strain-of-anti-intellectualism-has-been-a-constant-thread-winding/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know-and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/suppose-that-we-are-wise-enough-to-learn-and-know-and-yet-not-wise/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [Uncertainty that comes from knowledge (knowing what you don't know) is different from uncertainty coming from ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/uncertainty-that-comes-from-knowledge-knowing-what-you-don-t-know-is/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“Don't you see? It's Galaxy-wide. It's a worship of the past. It's a deterioration - a stagnation!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/don-t-you-see-it-s-galaxy-wide-it-s-a-worship-of-the-past-it-s-a/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [So the universe is not quite as you thought it was. You'd better rearrange your beliefs, then. Because you certainly can't rearrange the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/so-the-universe-is-not-quite-as-you-thought-it-was-you-d-better/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [It is in meeting the great tests that mankind can most successfully rise to great heights. Out of danger and restless insecurity comes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/it-is-in-meeting-the-great-tests-that-mankind-can-most-successfully/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“It might seem to you, Peter, that a truck driver, one step above an ape in your view, can't remember. But truck drivers can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/it-might-seem-to-you-peter-that-a-truck-driver-one-step-above-an-ape/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [When life is so harsh that a man loses all hope in himself, then he raises his eyes to a shining rock, worshipping it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/when-life-is-so-harsh-that-a-man-loses-all-hope-in-himself-then-he/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“You are a military man and should know better. If there is one science into which man has probed continuously and successfully, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/you-are-a-military-man-and-should-know-better-if-there-is-one-science/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“temperatura constante de mais ou menos 21 graus”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/temperatura-constante-de-mais-ou-menos-21-graus/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“Human beings can tolerate an immortal robot, for it doesn't matter how long a machine lasts, but they cannot tolerate an immortal human being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/human-beings-can-tolerate-an-immortal-robot-for-it-doesn-t-matter-how/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [“if people believe this, they would act on that belief. Many a prophecy, by the mere force of its being believed, is transmuted”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/if-people-believe-this-they-would-act-on-that-belief-many-a-prophecy/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [I do not use airplanes. They strike me as unsporting. You can have an automobile accident-and survive. You can be on a sinking ship-and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/i-do-not-use-airplanes-they-strike-me-as-unsporting-you-can-have-an/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [There are many aspects of the universe that still cannot be explained satisfactorily by science; but ignorance implies only ignorance that may someday be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/there-are-many-aspects-of-the-universe-that-still-cannot-be-explained/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. \[The Second Law…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/a-robot-must-obey-the-orders-given-it-by-human-beings-except-where/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) [Explore all 671 Isaac Asimov quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) ## More Borrowing quotes > [I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/i-would-borrow-money-all-day-long-if-the-cost-of-borrowing-is-less/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) > [ When the fountains of government \[borrowing\] abundance began to dry up, when through lack of funds and the impossibility of negotiating fresh loans the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-t-flynn/when-the-fountains-of-government-borrowing-abundance-began-to-dry-up/) [John T. Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-t-flynn/) > [By taking out a loan, I am committing myself to years of interest repayments, and therefore to years of wage slavery. And the UK…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hodgkinson/by-taking-out-a-loan-i-am-committing-myself-to-years-of-interest/) [Tom Hodgkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hodgkinson/) > [Perhaps art criticism cannot be reformed in a logical sense because it was never well-formed in the first place. Art criticism has long been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-elkins/perhaps-art-criticism-cannot-be-reformed-in-a-logical-sense-because/) [James Elkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-elkins/) > [It’s always going to be easy to live like others or other’s life, because creating or innovating something of own is always difficult in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuj/it-s-always-going-to-be-easy-to-live-like-others-or-other-s-life/) [Anuj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anuj/) > [A poet ought not to pick nature's pocket. Let him borrow, and so borrow as to repay by the very act of borrowing. Examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/a-poet-ought-not-to-pick-nature-s-pocket-let-him-borrow-and-so-borrow/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Several southern actors are coming to Mumbai. Likewise, many Bollywood actors are appearing down South or borrowing ideas from southern films.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-charan/several-southern-actors-are-coming-to-mumbai-likewise-many-bollywood/) [Ram Charan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-charan/) > [As for borrowing Mr. Whistler's ideas about art, the only thoroughly original ideas I have heard him express have had reference to his own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/as-for-borrowing-mr-whistler-s-ideas-about-art-the-only-thoroughly/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Saints and ordinary folks are the same from the start. Inquiring about a difference is like asking to borrow string when you've got a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hsu-yun/saints-and-ordinary-folks-are-the-same-from-the-start-inquiring-about/) Hsu Yun > [Borrowing money on what's called 'easy terms,' is a one-way ticket to the Poor House. If you think it ain't a Sucker Game, why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/borrowing-money-on-what-s-called-easy-terms-is-a-one-way-ticket-to/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [What I'm concerned about is endless borrowing, which is going to compromise our economy not only today but in the future. Because we know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ryan/what-i-m-concerned-about-is-endless-borrowing-which-is-going-to/) [Paul Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ryan/) > [Debt is a bottomless sea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/debt-is-a-bottomless-sea/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is a big problem. The problem is the country borrowed too much. We went on a borrowing binge, there was a housing boom.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-osborne/there-is-a-big-problem-the-problem-is-the-country-borrowed-too-much/) [George Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-osborne/) > [Debtor countries may postpone the inevitable by borrowing from the IMF or U.S. Treasury to buy out bondholders. This saves the latter from taking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/debtor-countries-may-postpone-the-inevitable-by-borrowing-from-the/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [We do not project power from bankruptcy court. We're borrowing a million dollars a minute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/we-do-not-project-power-from-bankruptcy-court-we-re-borrowing-a/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) [Browse all 303 Borrowing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/borrowing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We mythologists know very well that myths and legends contain borrowings, moral lessons, nature cycles, and a hundred other distorting influences, and we labor to cut them away and get to what might be a kernel of truth. 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