--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: History looks queer when you're standing…" description: "\"“History looks queer when you're standing close to it, watching where it is coming from and how it's being made.”\" — Janet Flanner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/janet-flanner-23939_history_history-looks-queer-when-you-re-standing_293360.jpg" --- # History looks queer when you're standing close to it… ![“History looks queer when you're standing close to it, watching where it is coming from and how it's being made.” quote by Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/janet-flanner-23939_history_history-looks-queer-when-you-re-standing_293360.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/janet-flanner-23939_history_history-looks-queer-when-you-re-standing_293360.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/janet-flanner-23939_history_history-looks-queer-when-you-re-standing_293360.jpg) > ““History looks queer when you're standing close to it, watching where it is coming from and how it's being made.”” [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seeing history up close reveals its contradictions and how it is constructed. **In simple terms:** History looks strange up close. Key Takeaway Observe details to understand larger patterns. Themes history perception construction Mood reflective analytical Type observational interpretive When to use this quote - research - teaching - museum c - journalism Key Concepts Narrative contextual analysis Questions to Reflect On - How does proximity change your view of events? - What hidden forces shape history? A Different Perspective Close view may miss broader trends. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Perspective](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perspective/) [Queer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/queer/) ## Related quotes > [I think audiences are quite comfortable watching something coming into being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-eno/i-think-audiences-are-quite-comfortable-watching-something-coming/) [Brian Eno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-eno/) > [When history looks back, I want people to know the Nazis weren't able to kill millions of people and get away with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-wiesenthal/when-history-looks-back-i-want-people-to-know-the-nazis-weren-t-able/) [Simon Wiesenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-wiesenthal/) > [When history looks back, it will prove what I'll die knowing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kevorkian/when-history-looks-back-it-will-prove-what-i-ll-die-knowing/) [Jack Kevorkian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kevorkian/) > [History never looks like history when you are living through it. It always looks confusing and messy, and it always feels uncomfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-w-gardner/history-never-looks-like-history-when-you-are-living-through-it-it/) [John W. Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-w-gardner/) > [History never looks like history when you are living through it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-w-gardner/history-never-looks-like-history-when-you-are-living-through-it/) [John W. Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-w-gardner/) > [When history looks back, I waI'm more aware of time. The element of time. nt people to know that the Nazis could not kill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-wiesenthal/when-history-looks-back-i-wai-m-more-aware-of-time-the-element-of/) [Simon Wiesenthal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-wiesenthal/) > [“What I've learned writing these stories is that history only looks heavy and solid. In fact, it won't ever stay still.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-geminder/what-i-ve-learned-writing-these-stories-is-that-history-only-looks/) Emily Geminder > [“History alone looks upon war as a grand achievement; all else look upon it as a dreadful last resort.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-l-mckiernan/history-alone-looks-upon-war-as-a-grand-achievement-all-else-look/) [Dennis L. McKiernan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-l-mckiernan/) > [“There's something very... I don't know; primitive, perhaps, about you, Gurgeh. You've never changed sex, have you?' He shook his head. 'Or slept with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/there-s-something-very-i-don-t-know-primitive-perhaps-about-you/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Everyone knew that girls who admitted to liking girls stopped being whatever they were before and became a cross between a lumberjack and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robyn-ochs/everyone-knew-that-girls-who-admitted-to-liking-girls-stopped-being/) Robyn Ochs > [“Well, of course, it was not any of my business but you get very queer glimpses of life sometimes, and you can't help speculating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/well-of-course-it-was-not-any-of-my-business-but-you-get-very-queer/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [“It didn’t break the trance. She wasn’t sure that anything could, and briefly wondered if they’d stay like this until flesh rotted away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashton-morgan/it-didn-t-break-the-trance-she-wasn-t-sure-that-anything-could-and/) Ashton Morgan > [I do think that for a queer person to speak truthfully without shame about their own experiences is political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liv-bruce/i-do-think-that-for-a-queer-person-to-speak-truthfully-without-shame/) [Liv Bruce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liv-bruce/) > [Queer? Is this queer? These queer? What's up? What's up?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-dirt/queer-is-this-queer-these-queer-what-s-up-what-s-up/) [Joe Dirt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-dirt/) > [A lot of queer characters get painted with either a caricature brush, or they're used to teach, in a way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-levy/a-lot-of-queer-characters-get-painted-with-either-a-caricature-brush/) [Dan Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-levy/) ## More by Janet Flanner > [“She felt about a love set as a painter does about his masterpiece; each ace serve was a form of brushwork to her, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/she-felt-about-a-love-set-as-a-painter-does-about-his-masterpiece/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [I'm fond of anything that comes from the sea, and that includes sailors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/i-m-fond-of-anything-that-comes-from-the-sea-and-that-includes-sailors/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [She died with a knife in her hand in her kitchen, where she had cooked for fifty years, and the death was solemnly listed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/she-died-with-a-knife-in-her-hand-in-her-kitchen-where-she-had-cooked/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [In the history of art there are periods when bread seems so beautiful that it nearly gets into museums.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/in-the-history-of-art-there-are-periods-when-bread-seems-so-beautiful/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [Proust has been dead since 1922, yet the annual appearance of his posthumous works has left him, to the reader, alive. Now there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/proust-has-been-dead-since-1922-yet-the-annual-appearance-of-his/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [ \[Charles de Gaulle\] has been abysmally careless, like a man running a bus over mountains, who forgot to equip it with good brakes. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/charles-de-gaulle-has-been-abysmally-careless-like-a-man-running-a/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [I act as a sponge. I soak it up and squeeze it out in ink every two weeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/i-act-as-a-sponge-i-soak-it-up-and-squeeze-it-out-in-ink-every-two/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [She had storms all her life, but she died peacefully.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/she-had-storms-all-her-life-but-she-died-peacefully/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [The stench of human wreckage in which the Nazi regime finally sank down to defeat has been the most shocking fact of modern times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/the-stench-of-human-wreckage-in-which-the-nazi-regime-finally-sank/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [Never have nights been more beautiful than these nights of anxiety. In the sky have been shining in trinity the moon, Venus and Mars.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/never-have-nights-been-more-beautiful-than-these-nights-of-anxiety-in/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [I keep going over a sentence. I nag it, gnaw it, pat and flatter it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/i-keep-going-over-a-sentence-i-nag-it-gnaw-it-pat-and-flatter-it/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [When I hear a writer say that they ‘put in a call,’ I want to pull my hair out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/when-i-hear-a-writer-say-that-they-put-in-a-call-i-want-to-pull-my/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [... people who don't want something are less likely to get it than people who do want something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/people-who-don-t-want-something-are-less-likely-to-get-it-than-people/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [The German passion for bureaucracy -- for written and signal forms . . . to move about, to work, to exist -- is like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/the-german-passion-for-bureaucracy-for-written-and-signal-forms-to/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) > [ Isadore \[Duncan\], who had an un-American genius for art, for organizing love, maternity, politics and pedagogy on a great personal scale, had also an… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/isadore-duncan-who-had-an-un-american-genius-for-art-for-organizing/) [Janet Flanner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) [Explore all 25 Janet Flanner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/) ## 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 looks queer when you're standing close to it, watching where it is coming from and how it's being made.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Janet Flanner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/history-looks-queer-when-you-re-standing-close-to-it-watching-where/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/history-looks-queer-when-you-re-standing-close-to-it-watching-where/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/janet-flanner-23939_history_history-looks-queer-when-you-re-standing_293360.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/janet-flanner-23939_history_history-looks-queer-when-you-re-standing_293360.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11d/janet-flanner-23939_history_history-looks-queer-when-you-re-standing_293360.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“History looks queer when you're standing close to it, watching where it is coming from and how it's being…” — Janet Flanner", "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": "Janet Flanner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-flanner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“History looks queer when you're standing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/history-looks-queer-when-you-re-standing-close-to-it-watching-where/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-flanner/history-looks-queer-when-you-re-standing-close-to-it-watching-where/#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 } } ] } ```