--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: History would be a wonderful thing – if…" description: "\"History would be a wonderful thing – if it were only true.\" — Leo Tolstoy" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/leo-tolstoy-55_history_history-would-be-a-wonderful-thing-if-it_3037815.png" --- # History would be a wonderful thing – if it were only true. ![“History would be a wonderful thing – if it were only true.” quote by Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/leo-tolstoy-55_history_history-would-be-a-wonderful-thing-if-it_3037815.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/leo-tolstoy-55_history_history-would-be-a-wonderful-thing-if-it_3037815.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/leo-tolstoy-55_history_history-would-be-a-wonderful-thing-if-it_3037815.png) > “History would be a wonderful thing – if it were only true.” [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## 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 appealing but often distorted; its truth is elusive. **In simple terms:** History may be attractive yet unreliable. Key Takeaway Question narratives and seek multiple perspectives. Themes history truth perception Mood reflective skeptical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - media analysis - political discourse - personal reflection Key Concepts historical revisionism subjectivity memory Questions to Reflect On - Which sources challenge the dominant story? - How do personal biases shape historical understanding? A Different Perspective Accepting a single version can mislead. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-wonderful-759267/) [Thing True](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing-true-447163/) [True](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true/) [Wonderful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful/) [Wonderful thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonderful-thing/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [History is wonderful. We have so much we can learn if we would quit making ideology out of history, and just deal with what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-giovanni/history-is-wonderful-we-have-so-much-we-can-learn-if-we-would-quit/) [Nikki Giovanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-giovanni/) > [History would be an excellent thing if only it were true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/history-would-be-an-excellent-thing-if-only-it-were-true/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“That’s the thing about true love—we never see the beginning or the end.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vi-keeland/that-s-the-thing-about-true-love-we-never-see-the-beginning-or-the-end/) [Vi Keeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vi-keeland/) > [There's no one thing that is true. They're all true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-s-no-one-thing-that-is-true-they-re-all-true/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [The wonderful thing about maths is it's a totally logical subject, and a pathway has been marked out. I think a lot of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-du-sautoy/the-wonderful-thing-about-maths-is-it-s-a-totally-logical-subject-and/) [Marcus du Sautoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-du-sautoy/) > [It’s a wonderful thing when you look inside your own heart and like what you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-mcmanus/it-s-a-wonderful-thing-when-you-look-inside-your-own-heart-and-like/) [Erwin McManus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-mcmanus/) > [I think portraying human beings trying to hold on to their humanity against pretty much certain odds that they'll die horribly in some way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-m-gimple/i-think-portraying-human-beings-trying-to-hold-on-to-their-humanity/) [Scott M. Gimple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-m-gimple/) > [With the film around for 25 years and the show being around even longer - still running and continuing to fill house all around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-o-brien/with-the-film-around-for-25-years-and-the-show-being-around-even/) [Richard O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-o-brien/) > [Coincidence is a wonderful thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/humphrey-lyttelton/coincidence-is-a-wonderful-thing/) [Humphrey Lyttelton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/humphrey-lyttelton/) > [To encounter a fine book and have time to read it is a wonderful thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/to-encounter-a-fine-book-and-have-time-to-read-it-is-a-wonderful-thing/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [“It was a disaster … It was the most wonderful thing in the world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonia-michaelis/it-was-a-disaster-it-was-the-most-wonderful-thing-in-the-world/) [Antonia Michaelis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonia-michaelis/) > [It's a wonderful thing to watch an actor just act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-flanagan/it-s-a-wonderful-thing-to-watch-an-actor-just-act/) [Mike Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-flanagan/) > [I think it's a wonderful thing, turning 50. I think everyone should do it at least once.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvis-duran/i-think-it-s-a-wonderful-thing-turning-50-i-think-everyone-should-do/) [Elvis Duran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elvis-duran/) > [There's no one thing that's true. It's all true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/there-s-no-one-thing-that-s-true-it-s-all-true/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“I know now that there is no one thing is true–it is all true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/i-know-now-that-there-is-no-one-thing-is-true-it-is-all-true/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) ## More by Leo Tolstoy > [These joys were so trifling as to be as imperceptible as grains of gold among the sand, and in moments of depression she saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/these-joys-were-so-trifling-as-to-be-as-imperceptible-as-grains-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The only significance of life consists in helping to establish the kingdom of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-only-significance-of-life-consists-in-helping-to-establish-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Energy rests upon love; and come as it will, there's no forcing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/energy-rests-upon-love-and-come-as-it-will-there-s-no-forcing-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“If you only knew what those society women are, and women in general! My father is right. Selfish, vain, stupid, trivial in everything—that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/if-you-only-knew-what-those-society-women-are-and-women-in-general-my/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To speak of it would be giving importance to that which has none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-speak-of-it-would-be-giving-importance-to-that-which-has-none/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Once we're thrown off our habitual paths, we think all is lost, but it's only here that the new and the good begins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/once-we-re-thrown-off-our-habitual-paths-we-think-all-is-lost-but-it/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He knew she was there by the rapture and the terror that seized on his heart. She was standing talking to a lady at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-knew-she-was-there-by-the-rapture-and-the-terror-that-seized-on/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Rest, nature, books, music...such is my idea of happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/rest-nature-books-music-such-is-my-idea-of-happiness/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“He was not to blame for being born with an irrepressible charachter and a mind some how constrained.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/he-was-not-to-blame-for-being-born-with-an-irrepressible-charachter/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I ask one thing only: I ask for the right to hope, to suffer as I do. But if even that cannot be, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-ask-one-thing-only-i-ask-for-the-right-to-hope-to-suffer-as-i-do/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The idea shared by many that life is a vale of tears is just as false as the idea shared by the great majority,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-idea-shared-by-many-that-life-is-a-vale-of-tears-is-just-as-false/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men, is the same as saying of some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-say-that-a-work-of-art-is-good-but-incomprehensible-to-the/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [True life is lived when tiny changes occur.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/true-life-is-lived-when-tiny-changes-occur/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) [Explore all 1,754 Leo Tolstoy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## 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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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 would be a wonderful thing – if it were only true.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Leo Tolstoy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/history-would-be-a-wonderful-thing-if-it-were-only-true/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/history-would-be-a-wonderful-thing-if-it-were-only-true/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/leo-tolstoy-55_history_history-would-be-a-wonderful-thing-if-it_3037815.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/leo-tolstoy-55_history_history-would-be-a-wonderful-thing-if-it_3037815.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/leo-tolstoy-55_history_history-would-be-a-wonderful-thing-if-it_3037815.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“History would be a wonderful thing – if it were only true.” — Leo Tolstoy", "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": "Leo Tolstoy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "History would be a wonderful thing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/history-would-be-a-wonderful-thing-if-it-were-only-true/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/history-would-be-a-wonderful-thing-if-it-were-only-true/#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 } } ] } ```