--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm not an historian and I'm not wanting…" description: "\"I'm not an historian and I'm not wanting to write about how I perceive the social change over the century as a historian, but as somebody who's walked ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/penelope-lively-3959_century_i-m-not-an-historian-and-i-m-not-wanting_1273481.png" --- # I'm not an historian and I'm not wanting to write about… ![“I'm not an historian and I'm not wanting to write about how I perceive the social change over the century as a historian, but as somebody who's walked through it and whose life has been dictated by it too, as all our lives are.” quote by Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/penelope-lively-3959_century_i-m-not-an-historian-and-i-m-not-wanting_1273481.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/penelope-lively-3959_century_i-m-not-an-historian-and-i-m-not-wanting_1273481.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/penelope-lively-3959_century_i-m-not-an-historian-and-i-m-not-wanting_1273481.png) > “I'm not an historian and I'm not wanting to write about how I perceive the social change over the century as a historian, but as somebody who's walked through it and whose life has been dictated by it too, as all our lives are.” [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Personal experience offers a unique lens on societal shifts, beyond academic analysis. **In simple terms:** Living through history gives insight. Key Takeaway Value lived experience. Themes history personal narrative social change Mood reflective introspective Type memoir essay When to use this quote - writing memoirs - public speaking - teaching - policy advocacy Key Concepts subjectivity first‑hand perspective Questions to Reflect On - How does personal memory shape your view of history? - What daily experiences reveal larger trends? A Different Perspective Academic analysis may miss nuanced daily impacts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Century Historian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century-historian-4090093/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Historian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historian/) [Historian Somebody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historian-somebody-1328815/) [Historian Wanting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historian-wanting-4090094/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Our lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our-lives/) [Perceive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perceive/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-change/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Why don’t you call somebody with the Coeur d’Alene tribe? A historian or somebody? Or be really crazy and ask one of our cousins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/why-don-t-you-call-somebody-with-the-coeur-d-alene-tribe-a-historian/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [A natural historian is somebody who looks at something in terms of its relationship to the rest of the natural world. You look at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/a-natural-historian-is-somebody-who-looks-at-something-in-terms-of/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [When we see the human race, we must see before all else environment and food. Historians write about social change without taking these factors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kushi/when-we-see-the-human-race-we-must-see-before-all-else-environment/) [Michio Kushi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kushi/) > [The consideration of change over the century is about loss, though I think that social change is gain rather than loss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/the-consideration-of-change-over-the-century-is-about-loss-though-i/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [I'm not an historian but I can get interested-obsessively interested-with any aspect of the past, whether it's palaeontology or archaeology or the very recent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-m-not-an-historian-but-i-can-get-interested-obsessively-interested/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [I'm a storyteller who uses all of the beauty and power of cinema to tell tales of human struggles for positive social change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-yates/i-m-a-storyteller-who-uses-all-of-the-beauty-and-power-of-cinema-to/) [Pamela Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-yates/) > [It's hard to leave a place you love you never if your meet someone your wide would in a moment comes undone. don't ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micha/it-s-hard-to-leave-a-place-you-love-you-never-if-your-meet-someone/) [Micha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micha/) > [“Socially, politically, economically, militarily, culturally, racially, sexually, demographically, even mythologically, World War II was the crucible that forged modern America. It was the transforming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haynes-johnson/socially-politically-economically-militarily-culturally-racially/) [Haynes Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haynes-johnson/) > [“If you move through the world with only your compassion, then you walk on only one leg. But if you move through the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-novogratz/if-you-move-through-the-world-with-only-your-compassion-then-you-walk/) [Jacqueline Novogratz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-novogratz/) > [“If we do not stop these mar-makers not,...it will soon be too late. We are the only nation that can halt this crusade. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-aldridge/if-we-do-not-stop-these-mar-makers-not-it-will-soon-be-too-late-we/) [James Aldridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-aldridge/) > [“Revolutionary art need not be overtly political in content; what is more important is that it demand a new means of perception on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-daly/revolutionary-art-need-not-be-overtly-political-in-content-what-is/) [Ann Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-daly/) > [I believe strongly that social change isn't just about demonstrations in the street against the wrongs in society. There is also the path of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corinne-mclaughlin/i-believe-strongly-that-social-change-isn-t-just-about-demonstrations/) [Corinne McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corinne-mclaughlin/) > [America in the 1800s isn't quite the historical mystery hotbed as the same period in the country it bested in the War of Independence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-weinman/america-in-the-1800s-isn-t-quite-the-historical-mystery-hotbed-as-the/) [Sarah Weinman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-weinman/) > [Social change comes through people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-watson/social-change-comes-through-people/) [Paul Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-watson/) > [“Love is dead And we are each to blame When we took lighters over wild flame.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-wetch/love-is-dead-and-we-are-each-to-blame-when-we-took-lighters-over-wild/) [Justin Wetch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-wetch/) ## More by Penelope Lively > [“I know quite well why I became a historian… It was because dissension was frowned upon when I was a child: 'Don't argue, Claudia,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-know-quite-well-why-i-became-a-historian-it-was-because-dissension/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“The question is, shall it or shall it not be linear history. I've always thought a kaleidoscopic view might be an interesting heresey. Shake…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/the-question-is-shall-it-or-shall-it-not-be-linear-history-i-ve/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [There's a preoccupation with memory and the operation of memory and a rather rapacious interest in history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/there-s-a-preoccupation-with-memory-and-the-operation-of-memory-and-a/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“He felt marvellously conscious of the moment, of here and now, of this day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/he-felt-marvellously-conscious-of-the-moment-of-here-and-now-of-this/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [People die, but money never does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/people-die-but-money-never-does/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“But her thoughts are often of the past. That evanescent, pervasive, slippery internal landscape known to no one else, that vast accretion of data…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/but-her-thoughts-are-often-of-the-past-that-evanescent-pervasive/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Unless I am a part of everything I am nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/unless-i-am-a-part-of-everything-i-am-nothing/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Getting to know someone else involves curiosity about where they have come from, who they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/getting-to-know-someone-else-involves-curiosity-about-where-they-have/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [I'm intrigued by the way in which physical appearance can often direct a person's life; things happen differently for a beautiful woman than for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-m-intrigued-by-the-way-in-which-physical-appearance-can-often/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Since then, I have just read and read - but, that said, I suppose there is a raft of writers to whom I return…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/since-then-i-have-just-read-and-read-but-that-said-i-suppose-there-is/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“I have a print - you can buy them at the Victoria and Albert Museum - of a photograph of the village street of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-have-a-print-you-can-buy-them-at-the-victoria-and-albert-museum-of/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Every novel generates its own climate, when you get going.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/every-novel-generates-its-own-climate-when-you-get-going/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [“The power of language. Preserving the ephemeral; giving form to dreams, permanence to sparks of sunlight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/the-power-of-language-preserving-the-ephemeral-giving-form-to-dreams/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [We all need a past - that's where our sense of identity comes from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/we-all-need-a-past-that-s-where-our-sense-of-identity-comes-from/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) > [Conventional forms of narrative allow for different points of view, but for this book I wanted a structure whereby each of the main characters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/conventional-forms-of-narrative-allow-for-different-points-of-view/) [Penelope Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) [Explore all 118 Penelope Lively quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/) ## More Century quotes > [I know always that I am an outsider; a stranger in this century and among those who are still men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-know-always-that-i-am-an-outsider-a-stranger-in-this-century-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/) [Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Talented people can predict with great accuracy what's about to happen just a tiny bit ahead of their competitors. It might be two seconds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-maney/talented-people-can-predict-with-great-accuracy-what-s-about-to/) [Kevin Maney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-maney/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ida-b-wells/the-nineteenth-century-lynching-mob-cuts-off-ears-toes-and-fingers/) [Ida B. Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ida-b-wells/) > [At no time in the past century has public distrust of the government been so broadly distributed across the political spectrum, as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-zimmermann/at-no-time-in-the-past-century-has-public-distrust-of-the-government/) [Phil Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-zimmermann/) > [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [The young people today are the 21st century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-scorsese/the-young-people-today-are-the-21st-century/) [Martin Scorsese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-scorsese/) > [The wisdom of our actions in the first three years of peace will determine the course of world history for half a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-wallace/the-wisdom-of-our-actions-in-the-first-three-years-of-peace-will/) [Henry A. Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-wallace/) > [For me, the melancholy of the late XXth Century is walking late at night by the Mont Blanc pen store and seeing these things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/for-me-the-melancholy-of-the-late-xxth-century-is-walking-late-at/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [Consequently, citizen legislators, rotating back to their communities after a short period of public service—considered an indispensable and routine characteristic and design of representative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/consequently-citizen-legislators-rotating-back-to-their-communities/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 5,406 Century quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm not an historian and I'm not wanting to write about how I perceive the social change over the century as a historian, but as somebody who's walked through it and whose life has been dictated by it too, as all our lives are.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Penelope Lively" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-m-not-an-historian-and-i-m-not-wanting-to-write-about-how-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-m-not-an-historian-and-i-m-not-wanting-to-write-about-how-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/penelope-lively-3959_century_i-m-not-an-historian-and-i-m-not-wanting_1273481.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/penelope-lively-3959_century_i-m-not-an-historian-and-i-m-not-wanting_1273481.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/956/penelope-lively-3959_century_i-m-not-an-historian-and-i-m-not-wanting_1273481.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm not an historian and I'm not wanting to write about how I perceive the social change over the century as…” — Penelope Lively", "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": "Penelope Lively", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-lively/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'm not an historian and I'm...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-m-not-an-historian-and-i-m-not-wanting-to-write-about-how-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-lively/i-m-not-an-historian-and-i-m-not-wanting-to-write-about-how-i/#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 } } ] } ```