--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With a historical novel you know that…" description: "\"With a historical novel you know that liberties are being taken. Since Walter Scott, we know that poetic license, dramatic license, that events been co..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a22/nicholas-meyer-16558_accord_with-a-historical-novel-you-know-that-li_2817641.jpg" --- # With a historical novel you know that liberties are being… ![“With a historical novel you know that liberties are being taken. Since Walter Scott, we know that poetic license, dramatic license, that events been conflated and that liberties have been taken, characters ditto, dates rearranged. But people don't seem to understand that movies are fictions, they…” quote by Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a22/nicholas-meyer-16558_accord_with-a-historical-novel-you-know-that-li_2817641.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a22/nicholas-meyer-16558_accord_with-a-historical-novel-you-know-that-li_2817641.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a22/nicholas-meyer-16558_accord_with-a-historical-novel-you-know-that-li_2817641.jpg) > “With a historical novel you know that liberties are being taken. Since Walter Scott, we know that poetic license, dramatic license, that events been conflated and that liberties have been taken, characters ditto, dates rearranged. But people don't seem to understand that movies are fictions, they are dramatizations, at least historical movies, and we should accord the moviemakers some of the same understanding and latitude. When you go to a movie you know it's a dramatization and not history.” [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historical movies take liberties; audiences should recognize dramatization, not factual record. **In simple terms:** Films dramatize history, not present facts. Key Takeaway Treat movies as creative interpretation. Themes history film interpretation Mood cautious educational Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - movie watching - education - critical analysis Key Concepts media literacy artistic license Questions to Reflect On - How can viewers differentiate fact from artistic license? - What responsibilities do filmmakers have to history? A Different Perspective Some may conflate drama with truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accord/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Dramatic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dramatic/) [Dramatizations Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dramatizations-historical-3564690/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Fictions Dramatizations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fictions-dramatizations-3564691/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [Historical Movies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical-movies-2706483/) [Historical novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical-novels/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Latitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/latitude/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [License](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/license/) [Moviemakers Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moviemakers-understanding-3564692/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetic/) [Poetic license](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetic-license/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Taken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taken/) [Understand Movies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understand-movies-3564689/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) ## Related quotes > [Sometimes I think that I understand my movies after I make them. Really. I go very often off of instinct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernardo-bertolucci/sometimes-i-think-that-i-understand-my-movies-after-i-make-them/) [Bernardo Bertolucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernardo-bertolucci/) > [I wrote an article not so long ago that was published in the Los Angeles Times, and I think I titled it "Movies vs.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/i-wrote-an-article-not-so-long-ago-that-was-published-in-the-los/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [I didn't want to be an actor. I wanted to design historical movies like 'Ben-Hur'. I saw this as my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dante-ferretti/i-didn-t-want-to-be-an-actor-i-wanted-to-design-historical-movies/) [Dante Ferretti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dante-ferretti/) > [I love historical movies. I want to make a violent medieval epic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-roth/i-love-historical-movies-i-want-to-make-a-violent-medieval-epic/) [Eli Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-roth/) > [When I was young, watching historical movies made me feel absolutely sublime. But the first few times I visited costume museums, I was really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-theyskens/when-i-was-young-watching-historical-movies-made-me-feel-absolutely/) [Olivier Theyskens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-theyskens/) > [I like storytelling movies and more than that I like historical movies; and I think someday I'll definitely make a movie about the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/asghar-farhadi/i-like-storytelling-movies-and-more-than-that-i-like-historical/) [Asghar Farhadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/asghar-farhadi/) > [The freedom of poetic license.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/the-freedom-of-poetic-license/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Most of the really good songs are dead true. ... It had to have happened to have the song be there. Every time I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-clark/most-of-the-really-good-songs-are-dead-true-it-had-to-have-happened/) [Guy Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-clark/) > [I'm thinking about the idea of poetic license. People say that about certain writers: "Oh, the grammar sucks, but it's just the poetic license."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimenez-lai/i-m-thinking-about-the-idea-of-poetic-license-people-say-that-about/) [Jimenez Lai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimenez-lai/) > [He was such a bad writer, they revoked his poetic license.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-berle/he-was-such-a-bad-writer-they-revoked-his-poetic-license/) [Milton Berle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-berle/) > [To apply poetic license or to apply incorrect arrangements requires the idea or the understanding of correct arrangements - becoming an expert of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimenez-lai/to-apply-poetic-license-or-to-apply-incorrect-arrangements-requires/) [Jimenez Lai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimenez-lai/) > [I always had understood that dying of love was mere poetic license.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-always-had-understood-that-dying-of-love-was-mere-poetic-license-2/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [I write autobiographically, although I apply liberal amounts of poetic license.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-franks/i-write-autobiographically-although-i-apply-liberal-amounts-of-poetic/) [Michael Franks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-franks/) > [My art, like my acting, is a profound expression of poetic license.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-west/my-art-like-my-acting-is-a-profound-expression-of-poetic-license/) [Adam West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-west/) > [Not even I, in my original Spanish, am necessarily obliged to make exact quotations. I can do that or not, I can play with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agustin-fernandez-mallo/not-even-i-in-my-original-spanish-am-necessarily-obliged-to-make/) [Agustin Fernandez Mallo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agustin-fernandez-mallo/) ## More by Nicholas Meyer > [Actors will change their face, will change their hair, will change their voice, will disappear into the role. A movie star doesn't disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/actors-will-change-their-face-will-change-their-hair-will-change/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [No rock and roll ensemble, however inspired, can deliver the kind of musical variety obtainable with the resources of 110 instruments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/no-rock-and-roll-ensemble-however-inspired-can-deliver-the-kind-of/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [Roddenberry had his own utopian vision about he perfectibility of man, and I never really believed that. And I don’t think the show demonstrates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/roddenberry-had-his-own-utopian-vision-about-he-perfectibility-of-man/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [There are moments in one's life where you look back and you say, 'Well, I wish I had done this differently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/there-are-moments-in-one-s-life-where-you-look-back-and-you-say-well/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [I never gave my career much strategic thought. Maybe I should have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/i-never-gave-my-career-much-strategic-thought-maybe-i-should-have/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [Movie studios, Hollywood studios, by and large are not making the kind of movies that I go to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/movie-studios-hollywood-studios-by-and-large-are-not-making-the-kind/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [I wrote an article not so long ago that was published in the Los Angeles Times, and I think I titled it "Movies vs.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/i-wrote-an-article-not-so-long-ago-that-was-published-in-the-los/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [The first thing that put me on the map was my Sherlock Holmes novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/the-first-thing-that-put-me-on-the-map-was-my-sherlock-holmes-novel/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [But you have to understand what that really did is that it opened these DVDs to be sources of oral history instead of puff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/but-you-have-to-understand-what-that-really-did-is-that-it-opened/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [The naive thing I suppose is simply that we thought, in the words of Francis Fukuyama, that we had reached the end of history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/the-naive-thing-i-suppose-is-simply-that-we-thought-in-the-words-of/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [My father's book is about is about a number of things, but about Houdini's rage to not be a failure like his father, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/my-father-s-book-is-about-is-about-a-number-of-things-but-about/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [I'm mainly interested in people trying to figure s#!t out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/i-m-mainly-interested-in-people-trying-to-figure-s-t-out/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [An actor is someone who pretends to be somebody else. A movie star is somebody who pretends that somebody else is them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/an-actor-is-someone-who-pretends-to-be-somebody-else-a-movie-star-is/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [I was always a filmmaker before I was anything else. If I was always anything, I was a storyteller, and it never really made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/i-was-always-a-filmmaker-before-i-was-anything-else-if-i-was-always/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) > [When you read a history or biography you are entitled to imagine that it is as accurate as the authors can make it. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-meyer/when-you-read-a-history-or-biography-you-are-entitled-to-imagine-that/) [Nicholas Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) [Explore all 39 Nicholas Meyer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-meyer/) ## More Accord quotes > [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. Next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-crimp/to-an-ever-greater-extent-out-experience-is-governed-by-pictures/) [Douglas Crimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-crimp/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Christian obligation cannot be made to accord with a law of expediency. The Christian's maxims are, Do right because you are bound to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-landey-patton/christian-obligation-cannot-be-made-to-accord-with-a-law-of/) [Francis Landey Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-landey-patton/) > [I've never had a very quiet voice. I tried in choir to make it smaller, and it just didn't work out. And I listened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ditto/i-ve-never-had-a-very-quiet-voice-i-tried-in-choir-to-make-it-smaller/) [Beth Ditto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ditto/) > [It is a very high mind to which gratitude is not a painful sensation. If you wish to please, you will find it wiser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/it-is-a-very-high-mind-to-which-gratitude-is-not-a-painful-sensation/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [To act choicelessly is to act in accord with the situation. If someone throws a rock, you duck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rami-m-shapiro/to-act-choicelessly-is-to-act-in-accord-with-the-situation-if-someone/) [Rami M. Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rami-m-shapiro/) > [“I'm not here to grant you the extraordinary love you never had for yourself. I'm here, on my own accord, to love you. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/i-m-not-here-to-grant-you-the-extraordinary-love-you-never-had-for/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [It is a misfortune that necessity has induced men to accord greater license to this formidable engine, in order to obtain liberty, than can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-f-cooper/it-is-a-misfortune-that-necessity-has-induced-men-to-accord-greater/) [James F. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-f-cooper/) > [Life is a cutup. And to pretend that you write or paint in a timeless vacuum is just simply . . . not .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/life-is-a-cutup-and-to-pretend-that-you-write-or-paint-in-a-timeless/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [The dominant propaganda systems have appropriated the term "globalization" to refer to the specific version of international economic integration that they favor, which privileges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-dominant-propaganda-systems-have-appropriated-the-term/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/if-you-want-to-accord-with-the-tao-just-do-your-job-then-let-go/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [The fineness which a hymn or psalm affords / If when the soul unto the lines accords.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/the-fineness-which-a-hymn-or-psalm-affords-if-when-the-soul-unto-the/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [A covenant is an agreement between God and man, an accord whose terms are set by God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-todd-christofferson/a-covenant-is-an-agreement-between-god-and-man-an-accord-whose-terms/) [D. Todd Christofferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-todd-christofferson/) > [All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/all-day-i-think-about-it-then-at-night-i-say-it-where-did-i-come-from/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/all-art-is-at-once-surface-and-symbol-those-who-go-beneath-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Browse all 406 Accord quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accord/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "With a historical novel you know that liberties are being taken. Since Walter Scott, we know that poetic license, dramatic license, that events been conflated and that liberties have been taken, characters ditto, dates rearranged. But people don't seem to understand that movies are fictions, they are dramatizations, at least historical movies, and we should accord the moviemakers some of the same understanding and latitude. 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