--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If history is written by victors, then…" description: "\"If history is written by victors, then memory is written by losers.\" — Saed Kakei" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6c/saed-kakei-104158_history_if-history-is-written-by-victors-then-me_452165.jpg" --- # If history is written by victors, then memory is written… ![“If history is written by victors, then memory is written by losers.” quote by Saed Kakei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6c/saed-kakei-104158_history_if-history-is-written-by-victors-then-me_452165.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6c/saed-kakei-104158_history_if-history-is-written-by-victors-then-me_452165.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6c/saed-kakei-104158_history_if-history-is-written-by-victors-then-me_452165.jpg) > “If history is written by victors, then memory is written by losers.” Saed Kakei ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Victors shape history, while losers shape collective memory, highlighting bias in narratives. **In simple terms:** History reflects winners; memory reflects losers. Key Takeaway Seek multiple perspectives. Themes history memory power narrative bias Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - education - media analysis - archival research Key Concepts victor bias memory politics Questions to Reflect On - Who decides which story prevails? - How can we preserve alternate memories? A Different Perspective Dominant narratives can marginalize truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Losers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/losers/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) ## Related quotes > [“it is easy to see that history is truly written by losers with time on their hands and a protected academic position.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/it-is-easy-to-see-that-history-is-truly-written-by-losers-with-time/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“Most histories are written by the winners of conflicts, but those written by the losers—if they survive—are often more interesting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/most-histories-are-written-by-the-winners-of-conflicts-but-those/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [Pale ink is better than the most retentive memory. If it's written down, you can look it up. Just be damn sure you write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-mackay/pale-ink-is-better-than-the-most-retentive-memory-if-it-s-written/) [Harvey Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-mackay/) > [“this was passed to writing and the content of a writing burned can no longer be handed back to memory, for writing abolishes memory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-moure/this-was-passed-to-writing-and-the-content-of-a-writing-burned-can-no/) [Erin Moure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-moure/) > [“They told us to depend on memory, because nothing written down could be relied on. The Spirit travels from mouth to mouth, not from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/they-told-us-to-depend-on-memory-because-nothing-written-down-could/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Memory is the dairy of the losers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saed-kakei/memory-is-the-dairy-of-the-losers/) Saed Kakei > [“History is written by the victors, they say, but it seems to me that history is written above all by those who weren’t there,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kapka-kassabova/history-is-written-by-the-victors-they-say-but-it-seems-to-me-that/) [Kapka Kassabova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kapka-kassabova/) > [History is written by the victors--and when there is no victors, it all winds up in the corporate shredders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/history-is-written-by-the-victors-and-when-there-is-no-victors-it-all/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [I believe that history is written by the victors, but what about the vanquished? They also have a story to tell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/puneet-issar/i-believe-that-history-is-written-by-the-victors-but-what-about-the/) [Puneet Issar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/puneet-issar/) > [History is written by the victors. The victors in daily life tend to be those who live longest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hepworth/history-is-written-by-the-victors-the-victors-in-daily-life-tend-to/) [David Hepworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hepworth/) > [“History is written by the victors, they say, and there was no one alive who would come forward to dispute Hoover’s fabricated story. Never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-burrough/history-is-written-by-the-victors-they-say-and-there-was-no-one-alive/) [Bryan Burrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-burrough/) > [“History is written by the victors,’ she said, ‘but the truth has a way of revealing itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastien-de-castell/history-is-written-by-the-victors-she-said-but-the-truth-has-a-way-of/) [Sebastien de Castell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastien-de-castell/) > [History is said to be written by the victors. Fiction, by contrast, is largely the work of injured bystanders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/history-is-said-to-be-written-by-the-victors-fiction-by-contrast-is/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [“History is alwys written by victors, and the defeated create a new set of myths to explain the past and gild the future”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morris-west/history-is-alwys-written-by-victors-and-the-defeated-create-a-new-set/) [Morris West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morris-west/) > [History is written by victors and, occasionally, sensationalist journalists. I mean that with the best respect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-stevenson/history-is-written-by-victors-and-occasionally-sensationalist/) [Ray Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-stevenson/) ## More by Saed Kakei > [Memory is the dairy of the losers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saed-kakei/memory-is-the-dairy-of-the-losers/) Saed Kakei Explore all 2 Saed Kakei quotes ## 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. 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 > [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": "If history is written by victors, then memory is written by losers.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Saed Kakei" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saed-kakei/if-history-is-written-by-victors-then-memory-is-written-by-losers/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saed-kakei/if-history-is-written-by-victors-then-memory-is-written-by-losers/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6c/saed-kakei-104158_history_if-history-is-written-by-victors-then-me_452165.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6c/saed-kakei-104158_history_if-history-is-written-by-victors-then-me_452165.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6c/saed-kakei-104158_history_if-history-is-written-by-victors-then-me_452165.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If history is written by victors, then memory is written by losers.” — Saed Kakei", "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": "Saed Kakei", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saed-kakei/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If history is written by victors,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saed-kakei/if-history-is-written-by-victors-then-memory-is-written-by-losers/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saed-kakei/if-history-is-written-by-victors-then-memory-is-written-by-losers/#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 } } ] } ```