--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: History justifies whatever we want it to…" description: "\"History justifies whatever we want it to. It teaches absolutely nothing, for it contains everything and gives examples of everything.\" — Paul Valery" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/332/paul-valery-1464_absolutely-nothing_history-justifies-whatever-we-want-it-to_2178756.jpg" --- # History justifies whatever we want it to. It teaches… ![“History justifies whatever we want it to. It teaches absolutely nothing, for it contains everything and gives examples of everything.” quote by Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/332/paul-valery-1464_absolutely-nothing_history-justifies-whatever-we-want-it-to_2178756.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/332/paul-valery-1464_absolutely-nothing_history-justifies-whatever-we-want-it-to_2178756.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/332/paul-valery-1464_absolutely-nothing_history-justifies-whatever-we-want-it-to_2178756.jpg) > “History justifies whatever we want it to. It teaches absolutely nothing, for it contains everything and gives examples of everything.” [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. History is often twisted to serve present agendas, losing its instructive power. **In simple terms:** History can be distorted to fit needs. Key Takeaway Question narratives before accepting. Themes history power bias truth Mood skeptical reflective Type analytical critical When to use this quote - political rhetoric - education - media analysis Key Concepts relativism manipulation critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How do we discern factual history from propaganda? - What responsibilities do historians have? A Different Perspective History cannot be wholly objective; interpretation varies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolutely nothing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutely-nothing/) [Example](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/example/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Justifies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-justifies-1953670/) [Justifies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justifies/) [Justify](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justify/) [Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teach/) [Teaches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaches/) [Teaches Absolutely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaches-absolutely-4697247/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Want Teaches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-teaches-4697248/) ## Related quotes > [“Yes, my friends, your hunger for history is still pretty segregated. Your knowledge of America often ends at the color line. You end up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/yes-my-friends-your-hunger-for-history-is-still-pretty-segregated/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [“To some people, it's not the end that justifies the means. It's the process that they're after, (...)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-m-stunich/to-some-people-it-s-not-the-end-that-justifies-the-means-it-s-the/) [C.M. Stunich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-m-stunich/) > [Only he deserves power who every day justifies it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dag-hammarskj-ld/only-he-deserves-power-who-every-day-justifies-it/) [Dag Hammarskjold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dag-hammarskj-ld/) > [“We are the called according to His purpose, and whom He calls, them He also justifies. Of course we have help, and without help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/we-are-the-called-according-to-his-purpose-and-whom-he-calls-them-he/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Our guilt has its uses. It justifies much in the lives of others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-frisch/our-guilt-has-its-uses-it-justifies-much-in-the-lives-of-others/) [Max Frisch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-frisch/) > [While the West tries to turn its civilization into cultural variety hour, Islam tries to turn Muslim lands into a cultural monolith. The same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-shapiro/while-the-west-tries-to-turn-its-civilization-into-cultural-variety/) [Ben Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-shapiro/) > [Nothing, nothing justifies terrorism,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahmoud-darwish/nothing-nothing-justifies-terrorism/) [Mahmoud Darwish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahmoud-darwish/) > [My work has always been the thing that justifies my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/my-work-has-always-been-the-thing-that-justifies-my-life/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [If the end is right, it justifies the beans!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-sondheim/if-the-end-is-right-it-justifies-the-beans/) [Stephen Sondheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-sondheim/) > [The pleasurable part of public mourning can also lead to a sense of self-sanctification that justifies in advance any war effort, whether or not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/the-pleasurable-part-of-public-mourning-can-also-lead-to-a-sense-of/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Life's not black-and-white. Sometimes the ends justifies the means.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-giffin/life-s-not-black-and-white-sometimes-the-ends-justifies-the-means/) [Emily Giffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-giffin/) > [It is faith alone that justifies, but faith that justifies can never be alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/it-is-faith-alone-that-justifies-but-faith-that-justifies-can-never/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [Science fiction rarely is about scientists doing real science, in its slowness, its vagueness, the sort of tedious quality of getting out there and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-stanley-robinson/science-fiction-rarely-is-about-scientists-doing-real-science-in-its/) [Kim Stanley Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-stanley-robinson/) > [Our distrust of another justifies his deceit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/our-distrust-of-another-justifies-his-deceit/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [“When God justifies a sinner everything in God is on the sinner's side.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-w-tozer/when-god-justifies-a-sinner-everything-in-god-is-on-the-sinner-s-side/) [A.W. Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-w-tozer/) ## More by Paul Valery > [In the eyes of those lovers of perfection, a work is never finished a word that for them has no sense but abandoned; and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/in-the-eyes-of-those-lovers-of-perfection-a-work-is-never-finished-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“O Socrates, the universe cannot for one instant endure to be only what it is. It is strange to think that that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/o-socrates-the-universe-cannot-for-one-instant-endure-to-be-only-what/) [Paul Valéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [We civilizations now know ourselves mortal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/we-civilizations-now-know-ourselves-mortal/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [It seems to me that the soul, when alone with itself and speaking to itself, uses only a small number of words, none of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/it-seems-to-me-that-the-soul-when-alone-with-itself-and-speaking-to/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Serious people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/serious-people-have-few-ideas-people-with-ideas-are-never-serious/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“I am now going to make an admission. I confess, I agree, that all these good people who protested, who laughed, who did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/i-am-now-going-to-make-an-admission-i-confess-i-agree-that-all-these/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [“Degas is one of the very few painters who have given the floor its true importance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/degas-is-one-of-the-very-few-painters-who-have-given-the-floor-its/) [Paul Valéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Politics is the art of preventing people from busying themselves with what is their own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/politics-is-the-art-of-preventing-people-from-busying-themselves-with/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [God created man and, finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a companion to make him feel his solitude more keenly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/god-created-man-and-finding-him-not-sufficiently-alone-gave-him-a/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [The most ridiculous were those who, on their own authority, made themselves the judges and justices of the tribe. They seemed never to suspect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/the-most-ridiculous-were-those-who-on-their-own-authority-made/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [The folly of mistaking oneself for an oracle is built right into us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/the-folly-of-mistaking-oneself-for-an-oracle-is-built-right-into-us/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Thought must be hidden in the verse like nutritional virtue in a fruit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/thought-must-be-hidden-in-the-verse-like-nutritional-virtue-in-a-fruit/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [To be sincere means to be the same person when one is with oneself; that is to say, alone - but that is all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/to-be-sincere-means-to-be-the-same-person-when-one-is-with-oneself/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [No work of art is ever completed, it is only abandoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/no-work-of-art-is-ever-completed-it-is-only-abandoned/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [Interruption, incoherence, surprise are the ordinary conditions of our life. They have even become real needs for many people, whose minds are no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/interruption-incoherence-surprise-are-the-ordinary-conditions-of-our/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) [Explore all 215 Paul Valery quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) ## More Absolutely nothing quotes > [ By profession a biologist, \[Thomas Henry Huxley\] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/by-profession-a-biologist-thomas-henry-huxley-covered-in-fact-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“Amateur psychiatric prognosis can be fascinating when there is absolutely nothing else to do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-condon/amateur-psychiatric-prognosis-can-be-fascinating-when-there-is/) [Richard Condon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-condon/) > [I am unusual for a Frenchman - I have absolutely nothing against the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-hazanavicius/i-am-unusual-for-a-frenchman-i-have-absolutely-nothing-against-the/) [Michel Hazanavicius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-hazanavicius/) > [I know quickly whether a guy is boyfriend material. If I can have a good time doing absolutely nothing with him, then that's boyfriend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alyson-hannigan/i-know-quickly-whether-a-guy-is-boyfriend-material-if-i-can-have-a/) [Alyson Hannigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alyson-hannigan/) > [I cannot conceive of music that expresses absolutely nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bela-bartok/i-cannot-conceive-of-music-that-expresses-absolutely-nothing/) [Bela Bartok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bela-bartok/) > [Well, I've got nothing to hide. Absolutely nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-stewart/well-i-ve-got-nothing-to-hide-absolutely-nothing/) [Rod Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-stewart/) > [Expect the most wonderful things to happen, not in the future but right now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eileen-caddy/expect-the-most-wonderful-things-to-happen-not-in-the-future-but/) [Eileen Caddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eileen-caddy/) > [There is no reason not to love. There is no reason not to be joyous. There is no reason not to celebrate because all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/there-is-no-reason-not-to-love-there-is-no-reason-not-to-be-joyous/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Here is something no real celebrity will ever tell you: film acting is not very fun. Doing the same thing over and over again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mara-wilson/here-is-something-no-real-celebrity-will-ever-tell-you-film-acting-is/) [Mara Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mara-wilson/) > [Listen to everyone, read everything; believe absolutely nothing unless you can prove it in your own right!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-william-cooper/listen-to-everyone-read-everything-believe-absolutely-nothing-unless/) [Milton William Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-william-cooper/) > [What a delightful thing is the conversation of specialists! One understands absolutely nothing and it's charming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-degas/what-a-delightful-thing-is-the-conversation-of-specialists-one/) [Edgar Degas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-degas/) > [I go to practice every day. I really don't have a training camp. In the boxing world, and that's where that came from, almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chael-sonnen/i-go-to-practice-every-day-i-really-don-t-have-a-training-camp-in-the/) [Chael Sonnen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chael-sonnen/) > [There is absolutely nothing that you desire that you cannot achieve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/there-is-absolutely-nothing-that-you-desire-that-you-cannot-achieve/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [What did Republicans get for 16 days of a government shutdown with people being hurt? We have absolutely nothing to show for it, other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trey-gowdy/what-did-republicans-get-for-16-days-of-a-government-shutdown-with/) [Trey Gowdy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trey-gowdy/) > [Speak kind words to mankind and the unkind will attack you. 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