--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We will never cease our critique of those…" description: "\"“We will never cease our critique of those persons who distort the past, rewrite it, falsify it, who exaggerate the importance of one event and fail to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/milan-kundera-120_history_we-will-never-cease-our-critique-of-thos_1638819.jpg" --- # We will never cease our critique of those persons who… ![“We will never cease our critique of those persons who distort the past, rewrite it, falsify it, who exaggerate the importance of one event and fail to mention some other; such a critique is proper (it cannot fail to be), but it doesn't count for much unless a more basic critique precedes it: a…” quote by Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/milan-kundera-120_history_we-will-never-cease-our-critique-of-thos_1638819.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/milan-kundera-120_history_we-will-never-cease-our-critique-of-thos_1638819.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ef7/milan-kundera-120_history_we-will-never-cease-our-critique-of-thos_1638819.jpg) > ““We will never cease our critique of those persons who distort the past, rewrite it, falsify it, who exaggerate the importance of one event and fail to mention some other; such a critique is proper (it cannot fail to be), but it doesn't count for much unless a more basic critique precedes it: a critique of human memory as such. For after all, what can memory actually do, the poor thing? It is only capable of retaining a paltry little scrap of the past, and no one knows why just this scrap and not some other one, since in each of us the choice occurs mysteriously, outside our will or our interests. We won't understand a thing about human life if we persist in avoiding the most obvious fact: that a reality no longer is what it was when it was; it cannot be reconstructed. Even the most voluminous archives cannot help.”” [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Memory is selective and unreliable, so critiques of history must first question how we remember. **In simple terms:** Memory is flawed; critique must start with it. Key Takeaway Question your assumptions about the past. Themes history memory critique truth Mood reflective critical Type philosophical analytical When to use this quote - academic research - political analysis - personal reflection - archival work Key Concepts subjectivity selectivity reconstruction Questions to Reflect On - How do our memories shape our view of history? - Can we ever truly reconstruct the past? A Different Perspective Memory’s limits can lead to false conclusions if not acknowledged. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Critique Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/critique-human-548879/) [Critique Precedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/critique-precedes-548878/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Human life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) [Human Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-memory-339280/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Memory Actually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory-actually-339282/) [Precedes Critique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precedes-critique-548877/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“Memory cannot be understood, either, without a mathematical approach. 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Human memory is the ladder on which a country and a people advance. We must remember not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yang-jisheng/a-tombstone-is-memory-made-concrete-human-memory-is-the-ladder-on/) [Yang Jisheng](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yang-jisheng/) > [“But did you know that eyewitness testimony is often totally unreliable? The human memory only records events through the filter of its own frame…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-unger/but-did-you-know-that-eyewitness-testimony-is-often-totally/) [Lisa Unger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-unger/) > [The Germans, in the age of Tacitus, were unacquainted with the use of letters; and the use of letters is the principal circumstance that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-germans-in-the-age-of-tacitus-were-unacquainted-with-the-use-of/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“We don’t even survive in the memories of the living. Science has destroyed that myth. Whenever we remember something, what we’re doing is remembering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrique-de-h-riz/we-don-t-even-survive-in-the-memories-of-the-living-science-has/) [Enrique de Hériz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrique-de-h-riz/) ## More by Milan Kundera > [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“From that time on they both looked forward to sleeping together. I might even say that the goal of their lovemaking was not so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/from-that-time-on-they-both-looked-forward-to-sleeping-together-i/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“Beauty in the European sense has always had a premeditated quality to it. 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Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [When we ignore the body, we are more easily victimized by it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/when-we-ignore-the-body-we-are-more-easily-victimized-by-it/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“Do stories, apart from happening, being, have something to say? For all my skepticism, some trace of irrational superstition did survive in me, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/do-stories-apart-from-happening-being-have-something-to-say-for-all/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“Os extremos delimitam a fronteira para além da qual a vida termina, e a paixão pelo extremismo, tanto em arte como em política, é…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/os-extremos-delimitam-a-fronteira-para-al-m-da-qual-a-vida-termina-e/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [The characters in my novels are my own unrealized possibilities. That is why I am equally fond of them all and equally horrified by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-characters-in-my-novels-are-my-own-unrealized-possibilities-that/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) [Explore all 952 Milan Kundera quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) ## 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. 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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": "“We will never cease our critique of those persons who distort the past, rewrite it, falsify it, who exaggerate the importance of one event and fail to mention some other; such a critique is proper (it cannot fail to be), but it doesn't count for much unless a more basic critique precedes it: a critique of human memory as such. For after all, what can memory actually do, the poor thing? It is only capable of retaining a paltry little scrap of the past, and no one knows why just this scrap and not some other one, since in each of us the choice occurs mysteriously, outside our will or our interests. We won't understand a thing about human life if we persist in avoiding the most obvious fact: that a reality no longer is what it was when it was; it cannot be reconstructed. 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