--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do not start with a full knowledge of…" description: "\"I do not start with a full knowledge of the facts; the whole attraction of writing history is to educate myself: it is an exploration into the unknown ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a65/michael-korda-2925_history_i-do-not-start-with-a-full-knowledge-of_1625827.png" --- # I do not start with a full knowledge of the facts; the… ![“I do not start with a full knowledge of the facts; the whole attraction of writing history is to educate myself: it is an exploration into the unknown - 'a journey without maps,' to borrow Graham Greene's phrase.” quote by Michael Korda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a65/michael-korda-2925_history_i-do-not-start-with-a-full-knowledge-of_1625827.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a65/michael-korda-2925_history_i-do-not-start-with-a-full-knowledge-of_1625827.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a65/michael-korda-2925_history_i-do-not-start-with-a-full-knowledge-of_1625827.png) > “I do not start with a full knowledge of the facts; the whole attraction of writing history is to educate myself: it is an exploration into the unknown - 'a journey without maps,' to borrow Graham Greene's phrase.” [Michael Korda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-korda/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing history begins without full facts, using the process to learn and explore unknown territory. **In simple terms:** History writing is learning while you write. Key Takeaway Embrace uncertainty and learn through writing. Themes learning exploration history uncertainty Mood curious reflective Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - research projects - academic writing - personal memoirs - journalistic investigations Key Concepts Epistemology Narrative construction Self-education Questions to Reflect On - How do you verify emerging insights? - What risks arise from writing without full knowledge? 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Our destination is unknown but the journey can be fun and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/life-is-not-a-strait-path-it-is-a-winding-and-dirty-road-our/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [Our way is unplanned and our path is unknown. 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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": "I do not start with a full knowledge of the facts; the whole attraction of writing history is to educate myself: it is an exploration into the unknown - 'a journey without maps,' to borrow Graham Greene's phrase.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Michael Korda" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-korda/i-do-not-start-with-a-full-knowledge-of-the-facts-the-whole/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-korda/i-do-not-start-with-a-full-knowledge-of-the-facts-the-whole/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a65/michael-korda-2925_history_i-do-not-start-with-a-full-knowledge-of_1625827.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a65/michael-korda-2925_history_i-do-not-start-with-a-full-knowledge-of_1625827.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a65/michael-korda-2925_history_i-do-not-start-with-a-full-knowledge-of_1625827.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I do not start with a full knowledge of the facts; the whole attraction of writing history is to educate…” — Michael Korda", "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": "Michael Korda", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-korda/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I do not start with a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-korda/i-do-not-start-with-a-full-knowledge-of-the-facts-the-whole/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-korda/i-do-not-start-with-a-full-knowledge-of-the-facts-the-whole/#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 } } ] } ```