--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: …historians will say 'We have a few…" description: "\"“…historians will say 'We have a few documents to show how the common people lived at this time. Records lead us to believe that a majority were killed..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/878/sylvia-plath-149_common-people_historians-will-say-we-have-a-few-docume_946767.jpg" --- # …historians will say 'We have a few documents to show how… ![“…historians will say 'We have a few documents to show how the common people lived at this time. Records lead us to believe that a majority were killed. But there were glorious men.” quote by Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/878/sylvia-plath-149_common-people_historians-will-say-we-have-a-few-docume_946767.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/878/sylvia-plath-149_common-people_historians-will-say-we-have-a-few-docume_946767.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/878/sylvia-plath-149_common-people_historians-will-say-we-have-a-few-docume_946767.jpg) > ““…historians will say 'We have a few documents to show how the common people lived at this time. Records lead us to believe that a majority were killed. But there were glorious men.”” [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historians claim limited records of common life, yet many perished; some individuals are celebrated as heroes. **In simple terms:** History often overlooks ordinary suffering, focusing on heroic narratives. Key Takeaway Seek broader perspectives beyond celebrated figures. Themes history memory heroism social justice Mood thoughtful critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic research - museum curation - public discourse Key Concepts narrative bias victim recognition heroic myth Questions to Reflect On - Who are the unsung heroes? - How can we honor ordinary lives? A Different Perspective Heroic focus can marginalize everyday experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-people/) [Historians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historians/) [Historians Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historians-say-564643/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Majority Killed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/majority-killed-1659417/) [People Lived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-lived/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“I've come to read and hear many unlikely things about the times when people lived in freedom, i.e., the unorganized savage state. 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Trevelyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-m-trevelyan/) > [“So it appears to me, for when he could and should have wielded his pen to praise the virtues of so good a knight,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-de-cervantes/so-it-appears-to-me-for-when-he-could-and-should-have-wielded-his-pen/) [Miguel de Cervantes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-de-cervantes/) > [“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/) > [In history as it comes to be written, there is usually some Spirit of the Age which historians can define, but the shape of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-wood-krutch/in-history-as-it-comes-to-be-written-there-is-usually-some-spirit-of/) [Joseph Wood Krutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-wood-krutch/) > [I think observers, like me, sometimes know more about a place than the people who have lived there all their lives. 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We have lived on what we have been told, either guided by our inclinations, our tendencies, or compelled to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/we-are-second-hand-people-we-have-lived-on-what-we-have-been-told/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [“I guess some people lived like Reader's Digest, but I hadn't met any and at that time it seemed doubtful that I ever would”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/i-guess-some-people-lived-like-reader-s-digest-but-i-hadn-t-met-any/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [I was a tried seaman when, for the first time, I set foot upon the soil of my country, and took up my residence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-sergeant-wise/i-was-a-tried-seaman-when-for-the-first-time-i-set-foot-upon-the-soil/) [John Sergeant Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-sergeant-wise/) > [My family actually lived in the same village for about 400 years. They had great stability until the last century. People lived and intermarried…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-bannister/my-family-actually-lived-in-the-same-village-for-about-400-years-they/) [Roger Bannister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-bannister/) > [“Many other inhabitants of the city were similarly afflicted. Every day, more and more people took to saving time, and the more they did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende-momo/many-other-inhabitants-of-the-city-were-similarly-afflicted-every-day/) [Michael Ende, Momo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende-momo/) ## More by Sylvia Plath > [“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-was-a-queer-sultry-summer-the-summer-they-electrocuted-the/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I love life. But it is hard and I have so much, so very much to learn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-love-life-but-it-is-hard-and-i-have-so-much-so-very-much-to-learn/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [... These are my hands My knees. I may be skin and bone, Nevertheless, I am the same, identical woman. ... --Lady Lazarus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/these-are-my-hands-my-knees-i-may-be-skin-and-bone-nevertheless-i-am/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. 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No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-saw-the-gooseflesh-on-my-skin-i-did-not-know-what-made-it-i-was-not/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [I have to live my life, and it is the only one I’ll ever have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-to-live-my-life-and-it-is-the-only-one-i-ll-ever-have/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The city had faded my tan, though. I looked yellow as a Chinaman. 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Animals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/a-million-years-of-evolution-eric-said-bitterly-and-what-are-we/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ --from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/i-have-stitched-life-into-me-like-a-rare-organ-from-three-women-a/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It is so much safer not to feel, not to let the world touch me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/it-is-so-much-safer-not-to-feel-not-to-let-the-world-touch-me/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Flute Notes from a Reedy Pond" Now coldness comes sifting down, layer after layer, To our bower at the lily root. 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Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-l-shelley/) [Browse all 297 Common people quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-people/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“…historians will say 'We have a few documents to show how the common people lived at this time. Records lead us to believe that a majority were killed. 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