--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: How we document ourselves speaks volumes…" description: "\"“How we document ourselves speaks volumes about our ability to know ourselves and write our own histories, and we need more opportunities to do that as..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d74/nico-lang-76225_history_how-we-document-ourselves-speaks-volumes_1935570.jpg" --- # How we document ourselves speaks volumes about our ability… ![“How we document ourselves speaks volumes about our ability to know ourselves and write our own histories, and we need more opportunities to do that as our histories are unfolding.” quote by Nico Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d74/nico-lang-76225_history_how-we-document-ourselves-speaks-volumes_1935570.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d74/nico-lang-76225_history_how-we-document-ourselves-speaks-volumes_1935570.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d74/nico-lang-76225_history_how-we-document-ourselves-speaks-volumes_1935570.jpg) > ““How we document ourselves speaks volumes about our ability to know ourselves and write our own histories, and we need more opportunities to do that as our histories are unfolding.”” [Nico Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nico-lang/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Documenting ourselves reveals self‑knowledge and shapes our collective history, requiring more opportunities as events unfold. **In simple terms:** Writing our story helps us understand and influence history. Key Takeaway Create and share personal narratives actively. Themes self‑knowledge history agency documentation Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - family histories - community projects - digital archiving - activist movements Key Concepts narrative theory social identity media studies Questions to Reflect On - What stories are you missing? - How can we broaden documentation opportunities? A Different Perspective Access to platforms may be limited for some groups. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Document Speaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/document-speaks-3054662/) [Histories Need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/histories-need-3054664/) [Histories Unfolding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/histories-unfolding-3054663/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Speaks Volumes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speaks-volumes-785357/) [Write Histories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-histories-1035900/) ## Related quotes > [“If you're going to write histories, Tarly, you have to do the research, Archmaester Ebrose, Game of Thrones S7”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-rr-martin/if-you-re-going-to-write-histories-tarly-you-have-to-do-the-research/) [George RR Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-rr-martin/) > [At the moment of their emancipation, women have a need to write their own histories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/at-the-moment-of-their-emancipation-women-have-a-need-to-write-their/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“History will remember him as a savage, but that's because we write the histories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-h-septimius-2/history-will-remember-him-as-a-savage-but-that-s-because-we-write-the/) [A.H. Septimius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-h-septimius-2/) > [If you want to become a man of letters and perhaps write some Histories one day, you must also lie and invent tales, otherwise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/if-you-want-to-become-a-man-of-letters-and-perhaps-write-some/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [As a historian I understand how histories are written. My enemies will write histories that dismiss me and prove I was unimportant. My friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/as-a-historian-i-understand-how-histories-are-written-my-enemies-will/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [“It speaks volumes when people who are discriminated against go on to discriminate against others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dashanne-stokes/it-speaks-volumes-when-people-who-are-discriminated-against-go-on-to/) [DaShanne Stokes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dashanne-stokes/) > [“How you carry yourself speaks volumes about how you feel about yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-ann-peterson/how-you-carry-yourself-speaks-volumes-about-how-you-feel-about/) [Cindy Ann Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-ann-peterson/) > [“Your volume speaks volumes. Be aware of your dynamics, your tones as well as the loudness and softness of your voice on the phone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-weisman/your-volume-speaks-volumes-be-aware-of-your-dynamics-your-tones-as/) [Loren Weisman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-weisman/) > [The sheer act of listening speaks volumes that even a great speech can't communicate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/the-sheer-act-of-listening-speaks-volumes-that-even-a-great-speech/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [Your internal dialogue has got to be different from what you say. And, you know, in film, hopefully that registers and speaks volumes. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viola-davis/your-internal-dialogue-has-got-to-be-different-from-what-you-say-and/) [Viola Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viola-davis/) > [“Humans are easy to read, because what they’re not saying speaks volumes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-t-mcgrath/humans-are-easy-to-read-because-what-they-re-not-saying-speaks-volumes/) [Joel T. McGrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-t-mcgrath/) > [Silence speaks volumes & I ain't got shit to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/silence-speaks-volumes-i-ain-t-got-shit-to-say/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I definitely think I've come a long way in terms of people are now saying 'Trinity Rodman' before 'Dennis Rodman's daughter.' That in itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trinity-rodman/i-definitely-think-i-ve-come-a-long-way-in-terms-of-people-are-now/) [Trinity Rodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trinity-rodman/) > [Silence speaks volumes... but you don't hear me though...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/silence-speaks-volumes-but-you-don-t-hear-me-though/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Silence speaks volumes, if we're willing to listen...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/silence-speaks-volumes-if-we-re-willing-to-listen/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Nico Lang > [“You can tell a lot about a society by those they push to the margins, and our community doesn’t leave much room for men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nico-lang/you-can-tell-a-lot-about-a-society-by-those-they-push-to-the-margins/) [Nico Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nico-lang/) > [“When you’re accustomed to loneliness, you become in tune with the rhythms of yourself and your own mind—because you always have to answer yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nico-lang/when-you-re-accustomed-to-loneliness-you-become-in-tune-with-the/) [Nico Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nico-lang/) [Explore all 3 Nico Lang quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nico-lang/) ## 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. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. 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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](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": "“How we document ourselves speaks volumes about our ability to know ourselves and write our own histories, and we need more opportunities to do that as our histories are unfolding.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nico Lang" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nico-lang/how-we-document-ourselves-speaks-volumes-about-our-ability-to-know/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nico-lang/how-we-document-ourselves-speaks-volumes-about-our-ability-to-know/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d74/nico-lang-76225_history_how-we-document-ourselves-speaks-volumes_1935570.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d74/nico-lang-76225_history_how-we-document-ourselves-speaks-volumes_1935570.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d74/nico-lang-76225_history_how-we-document-ourselves-speaks-volumes_1935570.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“How we document ourselves speaks volumes about our ability to know ourselves and write our own histories…” — Nico Lang", "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": "Nico Lang", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nico-lang/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“How we document ourselves speaks volumes...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nico-lang/how-we-document-ourselves-speaks-volumes-about-our-ability-to-know/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nico-lang/how-we-document-ourselves-speaks-volumes-about-our-ability-to-know/#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 } } ] } ```