---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whether histories have a happy ending or…"
description: "\"Whether histories have a happy ending or not depends on when the chronicler ends the tale.\" — Linda Gordon"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/linda-gordon-50164_depends_whether-histories-have-a-happy-ending-or_1468222.png"
---

#  Whether histories have a happy ending or not depends on…

![“Whether histories have a happy ending or not depends on when the chronicler ends the tale.” quote by Linda Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/linda-gordon-50164_depends_whether-histories-have-a-happy-ending-or_1468222.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/linda-gordon-50164_depends_whether-histories-have-a-happy-ending-or_1468222.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/linda-gordon-50164_depends_whether-histories-have-a-happy-ending-or_1468222.png)

> “Whether histories have a happy ending or not depends on when the chronicler ends the tale.”

[Linda Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-gordon/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The ending of history depends on the storyteller's perspective and timing

**In simple terms:** History ends when the storyteller stops telling it

Key Takeaway

Consider how narratives shape perceived outcomes

Themes

history storytelling perspective

Mood

critical inquisitive

Type

analytical philosophical

When to use this quote

- history education
- museum curation
- documentary filmmaking

Key Concepts

narrative theory historical bias authorial intent

Questions to Reflect On

- Who decides when a historical narrative concludes?
- How does the chronicler’s bias affect truth?

A Different Perspective

Narratives can be manipulated for agenda

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Happy ending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-ending/) [Happy endings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happy-endings/) [Tales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tales/)

## Related quotes

> [Whether or not this story has a happy ending depends, of course, on who is reading it. Whether you are a wolf or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-link/whether-or-not-this-story-has-a-happy-ending-depends-of-course-on-who/)

[Kelly Link](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-link/)

> [“If you want a happy ending, it depends on where you stop the story”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/if-you-want-a-happy-ending-it-depends-on-where-you-stop-the-story/)

[Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/)

> [If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-welles/if-you-want-a-happy-ending-that-depends-of-course-on-where-you-stop/)

[Orson Welles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-welles/)

> [When your parents split up, it's impossible to delude yourself about fairytale romance and happy endings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-aniston/when-your-parents-split-up-it-s-impossible-to-delude-yourself-about/)

[Jennifer Aniston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-aniston/)

> [This is a modern fairytale. No happy endings. No wind in our sails. But I can't imagine a life without. Breathless moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/selena-gomez/this-is-a-modern-fairytale-no-happy-endings-no-wind-in-our-sails-but/)

[Selena Gomez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/selena-gomez/)

> [“I won, goddammit. I beat Kollberg. I beat you. I got everything I goddamn wanted: fame, wealth, power. Shit, I even got the girl."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-stover/i-won-goddammit-i-beat-kollberg-i-beat-you-i-got-everything-i-goddamn/)

[Matthew Stover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-stover/)

> [ “How are you, Rory?' \[the Doctor\] asked. I \[Rory\]... answered him. 'It's been odd being you.' 'Isn't it?' The Doctor's smile didn't quite reach… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-goss/how-are-you-rory-the-doctor-asked-i-rory-answered-him-it-s-been-odd/)

[James Goss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-goss/)

> [I don't believe in happy endings. Children have got to face death sooner or later. Granny and Grandpa die, dogs die, cats die, gerbils…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-briggs/i-don-t-believe-in-happy-endings-children-have-got-to-face-death/)

Raymond Briggs

> [Happy endings come in different packages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-f-wright/happy-endings-come-in-different-packages/)

[Jason F. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-f-wright/)

> [Maybe my movie isn't over, I say, because sometimes moviemakers trick the audience with a false bad ending, and just when you think the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-quick/maybe-my-movie-isn-t-over-i-say-because-sometimes-moviemakers-trick/)

[Matthew Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-quick/)

> [ Harvey \[Weinstein\] didn't want to release \[MY SON THE FANATIC\]; he held it for two years because he wanted a happy ending, although I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanif-kureishi/harvey-weinstein-didn-t-want-to-release-my-son-the-fanatic-he-held-it/)

[Hanif Kureishi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanif-kureishi/)

> [There are no such things as happy endings. Never. They're totally manufactured by fiction writers who choose to end the story on a high…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-david/there-are-no-such-things-as-happy-endings-never-they-re-totally/)

[Peter David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-david/)

> [The happy ending is hardly important, though we may be glad its there. The real joy is knowing that if you felt the trouble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynda-barry/the-happy-ending-is-hardly-important-though-we-may-be-glad-its-there/)

[Lynda Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynda-barry/)

> [“You can't get mad at a real ending. Some of them are ugly. It's the fake happily ever afters that should piss you off.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/you-can-t-get-mad-at-a-real-ending-some-of-them-are-ugly-it-s-the/)

[Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/)

> [You could be the leaf that never falls from the tree you could be the sun that never leaves the sky this might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-levithan/you-could-be-the-leaf-that-never-falls-from-the-tree-you-could-be-the/)

[David Levithan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-levithan/)

## More by Linda Gordon

> [“Brandolini's law, developed in the context of twenty-first social media, is equally applicable to 1920s Klan-speak: 'The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-gordon/brandolini-s-law-developed-in-the-context-of-twenty-first-social/)

[Linda Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-gordon/)

> [As the feminist saying goes, 'Women deliver.' In other words, when women control resources, the social gain is greater than when men control resources.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-gordon/as-the-feminist-saying-goes-women-deliver-in-other-words-when-women/)

[Linda Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-gordon/)

> [The nuclear family must be destroyed, and people must find better ways of living together… Whatever its ultimate meaning, the break-up of families now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-gordon/the-nuclear-family-must-be-destroyed-and-people-must-find-better-ways/)

[Linda Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-gordon/)

> [The nuclear family must be destroyed... Whatever its ultimate meaning, the break-up of families now is an objectively revolutionary process.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-gordon/the-nuclear-family-must-be-destroyed-whatever-its-ultimate-meaning/)

[Linda Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-gordon/)

> [The acceptability of birth control has always depended on a morality that separates sex from reproduction. In the nineteenth century, when the birth control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-gordon/the-acceptability-of-birth-control-has-always-depended-on-a-morality/)

[Linda Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-gordon/)

> [The nuclear family must be destroyed, and people must find better ways of living together. ...Whatever its ultimate meaning, the break-up of families now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-gordon/the-nuclear-family-must-be-destroyed-and-people-must-find-better-ways-2/)

[Linda Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-gordon/)

[Explore all 7 Linda Gordon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-gordon/)

## More Depends quotes

> [It all depends on you. You can go on sleeping forever, you can wake up right this moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/it-all-depends-on-you-you-can-go-on-sleeping-forever-you-can-wake-up/)

[Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/)

> [Surely to root politics out of art is a highly necessary undertaking: for the freedom of art, like that of science, depends entirely upon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wyndham-lewis/surely-to-root-politics-out-of-art-is-a-highly-necessary-undertaking/)

[Wyndham Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wyndham-lewis/)

> [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/)

[David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/)

> [The average condition of the people improving or deteriorating, depends upon whether population is advancing faster than improvement, or improvement than population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-average-condition-of-the-people-improving-or-deteriorating/)

[John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/)

> [India may be overtaking China as the world's most polluted country. Even now, which country is worse depends on the day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-inskeep/india-may-be-overtaking-china-as-the-world-s-most-polluted-country/)

[Steve Inskeep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-inskeep/)

> [What my day is like depends on where I am.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniela-pestova/what-my-day-is-like-depends-on-where-i-am/)

[Daniela Pestova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniela-pestova/)

> [Our security depends on having good relationships with our allies. Donald Trump mainly shows contempt for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-wolfowitz/our-security-depends-on-having-good-relationships-with-our-allies/)

[Paul Wolfowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-wolfowitz/)

> [Politics...You see, it depends on what kind of politics. What we did during my father's generation was a duty. And it was beautiful because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/politics-you-see-it-depends-on-what-kind-of-politics-what-we-did/)

[Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/)

> [A free society depends upon a high degree of mutual trust. The public will not give that trust to officials who are not seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-cox/a-free-society-depends-upon-a-high-degree-of-mutual-trust-the-public/)

[Archibald Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-cox/)

> [In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-proportion-as-our-inward-life-fails-we-go-more-constantly-and/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [Nothing will happen automatically. Change depends on what you and I do every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/nothing-will-happen-automatically-change-depends-on-what-you-and-i-do/)

[Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/)

> [Every crucial experience can be regarded either as a setback, or the start of a wonderful new adventure, it depends on your perspective!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-roberts-rinehart/every-crucial-experience-can-be-regarded-either-as-a-setback-or-the/)

[Mary Roberts Rinehart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-roberts-rinehart/)

> [Unless we are prepared to search our souls to discover what to say, and then how to say it effectively, we cannot expect to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-case/unless-we-are-prepared-to-search-our-souls-to-discover-what-to-say/)

Everett Case

> [What you can do and what it became the Depends are Only your Attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/what-you-can-do-and-what-it-became-the-depends-are-only-your-attitude/)

Mak\_786

> [Every man will have his own criterion in forming his judgment of others. I depend very much on the effect of affliction. I consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-cecil/every-man-will-have-his-own-criterion-in-forming-his-judgment-of/)

[Richard Cecil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-cecil/)

Browse all 3,689 Depends quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Whether histories have a happy ending or not depends on when the chronicler ends the tale.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Linda Gordon"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-gordon/whether-histories-have-a-happy-ending-or-not-depends-on-when-the/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Depends"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-gordon/whether-histories-have-a-happy-ending-or-not-depends-on-when-the/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/linda-gordon-50164_depends_whether-histories-have-a-happy-ending-or_1468222.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/linda-gordon-50164_depends_whether-histories-have-a-happy-ending-or_1468222.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f2d/linda-gordon-50164_depends_whether-histories-have-a-happy-ending-or_1468222.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Whether histories have a happy ending or not depends on when the chronicler ends the tale.” — Linda Gordon",
                "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": "Linda Gordon",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-gordon/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Whether histories have a happy ending...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-gordon/whether-histories-have-a-happy-ending-or-not-depends-on-when-the/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-gordon/whether-histories-have-a-happy-ending-or-not-depends-on-when-the/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
