--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I sat down to make a list of…" description: "\"When I sat down to make a list of characters in history who exhibited curiosity, most were women. I thought it was sheer accident, and then I began to ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/margaret-macmillan-5907_accident_when-i-sat-down-to-make-a-list-of-charac_848839.jpg" --- # When I sat down to make a list of characters in history… ![“When I sat down to make a list of characters in history who exhibited curiosity, most were women. I thought it was sheer accident, and then I began to wonder.” quote by Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/margaret-macmillan-5907_accident_when-i-sat-down-to-make-a-list-of-charac_848839.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/margaret-macmillan-5907_accident_when-i-sat-down-to-make-a-list-of-charac_848839.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3db/margaret-macmillan-5907_accident_when-i-sat-down-to-make-a-list-of-charac_848839.jpg) > “When I sat down to make a list of characters in history who exhibited curiosity, most were women. I thought it was sheer accident, and then I began to wonder.” [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historical curiosity often appears in women, prompting deeper inquiry. **In simple terms:** Women frequently show curiosity in history. Key Takeaway Explore gendered perspectives in history. Themes gender curiosity history Mood analytical inquisitive Type academic reflective When to use this quote - education curriculum - museum exhibits - media representation - research projects Key Concepts feminist studies historical analysis Questions to Reflect On - How does gender influence historical narratives? - What other groups show similar curiosity? A Different Perspective May overlook contributions of men or non‑binary individuals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accident](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accident/) [Curiosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/curiosity/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) ## Related quotes > [“Female curiosity. Women like to know the stories of their friends' lives. Women like to understand”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-chamberlin/female-curiosity-women-like-to-know-the-stories-of-their-friends/) [Holly Chamberlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-chamberlin/) > [My intellectual development was retarded, as a result of which I began to wonder about space and time only when I had already grown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/my-intellectual-development-was-retarded-as-a-result-of-which-i-began/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“He began to wonder whether even an all-mighty and all-good God would be able to contrive such a world as no somebody in it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/he-began-to-wonder-whether-even-an-all-mighty-and-all-good-god-would/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [I was always matching wits with authority. Pondering over my past and present hassles, I began to wonder why my life had taken the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-lee/i-was-always-matching-wits-with-authority-pondering-over-my-past-and/) [Bill Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-lee/) > [I began to wonder - I knew I was an artist or wanted to be one - but I was wondering whether I really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walker-evans/i-began-to-wonder-i-knew-i-was-an-artist-or-wanted-to-be-one-but-i/) [Walker Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walker-evans/) > [I began to wonder why we cuddle some animals and put a fork in others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-spira/i-began-to-wonder-why-we-cuddle-some-animals-and-put-a-fork-in-others/) [Henry Spira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-spira/) > [In wonder all philosophy began, in wonder it ends, and admiration fill up the interspace; but the first wonder is the offspring of ignorance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/in-wonder-all-philosophy-began-in-wonder-it-ends-and-admiration-fill/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [“Presently she began again. 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Frankness just stirred up trouble amoung women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liza-dalby/what-was-the-point-i-told-myself-of-trying-to-explain-to-people-who/) [Liza Dalby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liza-dalby/) > [No men who really think deeply about women retain a high opinion of them; men either despise women or they have never thought seriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-weininger/no-men-who-really-think-deeply-about-women-retain-a-high-opinion-of/) [Otto Weininger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-weininger/) ## More by Margaret MacMillan > [Some might argue humans are hard-wired to fight. I don't agree: we are conscious beings who have the capacity to make decisions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/some-might-argue-humans-are-hard-wired-to-fight-i-don-t-agree-we-are/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [I wish we could see understanding the First World War as a European issue, or even a global one, and not a nationalistic one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/i-wish-we-could-see-understanding-the-first-world-war-as-a-european/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [Theodore Roosevelt's policy to build a two-ocean navy confirmed that the old-style isolationism of the founders had not survived the modern, increasingly globalized world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/theodore-roosevelt-s-policy-to-build-a-two-ocean-navy-confirmed-that/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [Individual lives remind us that there is something called a common humanity and that, over the centuries, there have been people who have lived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/individual-lives-remind-us-that-there-is-something-called-a-common/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [The 1898 annexation of the Hawaiian Islands merely formally recognized what had long been American domination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/the-1898-annexation-of-the-hawaiian-islands-merely-formally/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [“There are only two perfectly useless things in the world,” he quipped. “One is an appendix and the other is Poincaré!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/there-are-only-two-perfectly-useless-things-in-the-world-he-quipped/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [“Nationalist movements often overlapped with economic and class issues: Rumanian and Ruthenian peasants, for example, challenged their Hungarian and Polish landlords.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/nationalist-movements-often-overlapped-with-economic-and-class-issues/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [How curious that such an outsize man, in physique as well as personality, should be remembered today mainly for giving his name to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/how-curious-that-such-an-outsize-man-in-physique-as-well-as/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [“Part of Nietzsche’s appeal was that it was easy to read a great deal into his work, and people including socialists, vegetarians, feminists, conservatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/part-of-nietzsche-s-appeal-was-that-it-was-easy-to-read-a-great-deal/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [The Great War was nobody's fault - or everybody's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/the-great-war-was-nobody-s-fault-or-everybody-s/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [If we do not, as historians, write the history of great events as well as the small stories that make up the past, others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/if-we-do-not-as-historians-write-the-history-of-great-events-as-well/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [Many in the English-speaking world came to agree with the Germans that the Treaty of Versailles, and the reparations in particular, were unjust, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/many-in-the-english-speaking-world-came-to-agree-with-the-germans/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [Women are interested in relationships and how other societies manage those relationships. They may have been constrained in what roles were open to them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/women-are-interested-in-relationships-and-how-other-societies-manage/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [Managing the relationship with a giant neighbour has been central to our foreign policy for more than a century. Trade and investment, as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/managing-the-relationship-with-a-giant-neighbour-has-been-central-to/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) > [I like to think I'm a recovering historian.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-macmillan/i-like-to-think-i-m-a-recovering-historian/) [Margaret MacMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) [Explore all 98 Margaret MacMillan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-macmillan/) ## More Accident quotes > [Fame, we may understand, is no sure test of merit, but only a probability of such: it is an accident, not a property, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/fame-we-may-understand-is-no-sure-test-of-merit-but-only-a/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [I went to school at night in L.A. to brush up on my engineering while I applied to the astronaut program. I really did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mae-jemison/i-went-to-school-at-night-in-l-a-to-brush-up-on-my-engineering-while/) [Mae Jemison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mae-jemison/) > [“The accident in your rearview mirror already happened. The one in front of you is still preventable. Pay attention.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nakia-r-laushaul/the-accident-in-your-rearview-mirror-already-happened-the-one-in/) [Nakia R. 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