--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The past has always been the handmaid of…" description: "\"The past has always been the handmaid of authority.\" — J. H. Plumb" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/273/j-h-plumb-75181_authority_the-past-has-always-been-the-handmaid-of_1635069.png" --- # The past has always been the handmaid of authority. ![“The past has always been the handmaid of authority.” quote by J. H. Plumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/273/j-h-plumb-75181_authority_the-past-has-always-been-the-handmaid-of_1635069.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/273/j-h-plumb-75181_authority_the-past-has-always-been-the-handmaid-of_1635069.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/273/j-h-plumb-75181_authority_the-past-has-always-been-the-handmaid-of_1635069.png) > “The past has always been the handmaid of authority.” [J. H. Plumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-h-plumb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Authority often rewrites history to legitimize its power, making the past a tool rather than a record. **In simple terms:** Power reshapes history to stay in control. Key Takeaway Question narratives, seek multiple sources. Themes power history authority Mood critical skeptical Type analytical historical When to use this quote - political analysis - academic research - media literacy Key Concepts social control revisionism Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify historical claims? - Who benefits from a particular version of the past? A Different Perspective History can be distorted by those in power, limiting truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Handmaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/handmaid/) [Handmaid Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/handmaid-authority-519086/) [Handmaids](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/handmaids/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Past Handmaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-handmaid-519085/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [His time was past, her handmaid Irri declared. No man should live longer than his teeth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/his-time-was-past-her-handmaid-irri-declared-no-man-should-live/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Labor is the handmaid of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-henry-parkhurst/labor-is-the-handmaid-of-religion/) [Charles Henry Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-henry-parkhurst/) > [I look upon statistics as the handmaid of medicine, but on that very account I hold that it befits medicine to treat her handmaid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-pearson/i-look-upon-statistics-as-the-handmaid-of-medicine-but-on-that-very/) [Karl Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-pearson/) > [Education should be the handmaid of citizenship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/education-should-be-the-handmaid-of-citizenship/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [Hunger is the handmaid of genius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/hunger-is-the-handmaid-of-genius/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [When I first read the scenes I got to audition, I just could tell there was obviously something there. The writing speaks for itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeline-brewer/when-i-first-read-the-scenes-i-got-to-audition-i-just-could-tell/) [Madeline Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeline-brewer/) > [I'm trying to make people understand: yes, women are oppressed in 'The Handmaid's Tale.' But the men are also oppressed, too. It's just a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-morano/i-m-trying-to-make-people-understand-yes-women-are-oppressed-in-the/) [Reed Morano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-morano/) > [On 'Handmaid's' you are given complete freedom - unlike some shows where you're really expected just to 'fold in' and 'deliver the script' and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kari-skogland/on-handmaid-s-you-are-given-complete-freedom-unlike-some-shows-where/) [Kari Skogland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kari-skogland/) > [Music had always been the handmaid of the Roman liturgy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-morris/music-had-always-been-the-handmaid-of-the-roman-liturgy/) [Richard Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-morris/) > ['The Handmaid's Tale' is a horrifying and horrifyingly possible vision of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllida-lloyd/the-handmaid-s-tale-is-a-horrifying-and-horrifyingly-possible-vision/) [Phyllida Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllida-lloyd/) > [“It is evening.  I have dismissed, with the fee of an orange, the little orphan who serves me as a handmaid. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/it-is-evening-i-have-dismissed-with-the-fee-of-an-orange-the-little/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > ['The Handmaid's Tale' takes place in the near future, a dystopian future, and is based on the book by Margaret Atwood. It takes place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-bledel/the-handmaid-s-tale-takes-place-in-the-near-future-a-dystopian-future/) [Alexis Bledel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-bledel/) > ['The Handmaid's Tale' is not a book or show advocating enslaving women or creating a theocracy. It's not glorifying that. It's talking about what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laeta-kalogridis/the-handmaid-s-tale-is-not-a-book-or-show-advocating-enslaving-women/) [Laeta Kalogridis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laeta-kalogridis/) > [The interesting thing about 'The Handmaid's Tale' is that everything that happens in it has happened or is happening somewhere in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reed-morano/the-interesting-thing-about-the-handmaid-s-tale-is-that-everything/) [Reed Morano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reed-morano/) > ['The Handmaid's Tale' is a human story, and women's rights are human rights, and it's all about equality, but at the end of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yvonne-strahovski/the-handmaid-s-tale-is-a-human-story-and-women-s-rights-are-human/) [Yvonne Strahovski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yvonne-strahovski/) ## More by J. H. Plumb > [History is now strictly organized, powerfully disciplined, but it possesses only a modest educational value and even less conscious social purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-h-plumb/history-is-now-strictly-organized-powerfully-disciplined-but-it/) [J. H. Plumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-h-plumb/) > [Whether we like it or not, quantification in history is here to stay for reasons which the quantifiers themselves might not actively approve. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-h-plumb/whether-we-like-it-or-not-quantification-in-history-is-here-to-stay/) [J. H. Plumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-h-plumb/) [Explore all 3 J. H. Plumb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-h-plumb/) ## More Authority quotes > [I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-arkin/i-don-t-believe-in-competitions-between-artists-this-is-insane-who/) [Alan Arkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-arkin/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/) [Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/) > [I think people need to be comfortable questioning the authority of a doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susannah-cahalan/i-think-people-need-to-be-comfortable-questioning-the-authority-of-a/) [Susannah Cahalan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susannah-cahalan/) > [At a distance, we cannot conceive of the authority of a despot who knows all his subjects on sight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/at-a-distance-we-cannot-conceive-of-the-authority-of-a-despot-who/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/throughout-human-history-as-our-species-has-faced-the-frightening/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) > [“I'm of the age and immaturity level that I cannot give you my respect solely because you are older or ranked higher on an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-goros/i-m-of-the-age-and-immaturity-level-that-i-cannot-give-you-my-respect/) [Erica Goros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-goros/) > [In the end theologians are jealous of science, for they are aware that it has greater authority than do their own ways of finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-a-coyne/in-the-end-theologians-are-jealous-of-science-for-they-are-aware-that/) [Jerry A. Coyne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-a-coyne/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Miracles are like candles lit up until the sun rises, and then blown out. Therefore, I am amused when I hear sects and churches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/miracles-are-like-candles-lit-up-until-the-sun-rises-and-then-blown/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [The execution was set for the 29th of March, at nine in the morning. This delay was due to a desire on the part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-execution-was-set-for-the-29th-of-march-at-nine-in-the-morning/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/) [Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/) > [“We are at the mercy of whoever wields authority over the things we either desire or detest. If you would be free, then, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/we-are-at-the-mercy-of-whoever-wields-authority-over-the-things-we/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Sometimes it's easier for people who are in authority to be authoritarian, because people know where you stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meryl-streep/sometimes-it-s-easier-for-people-who-are-in-authority-to-be/) [Meryl Streep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meryl-streep/) > [The victory of Hamas is not only based on the corruption of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas has a vision and a program, and this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismail-haniyeh/the-victory-of-hamas-is-not-only-based-on-the-corruption-of-the/) [Ismail Haniyeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismail-haniyeh/) [Browse all 4,003 Authority quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The past has always been the handmaid of authority.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J. H. 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