--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With reference to the narrative of…" description: "\"With reference to the narrative of events, far from permitting myself to derive it from the first source that came to hand, I did not even trust my own..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/thucydides-2578_accounts_with-reference-to-the-narrative-of-event_1898997.png" --- # With reference to the narrative of events, far from… ![“With reference to the narrative of events, far from permitting myself to derive it from the first source that came to hand, I did not even trust my own impressions, but it rests partly on what I saw myself, partly on what others saw for me, the accuracy of the report always being tried by the most…” quote by Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/thucydides-2578_accounts_with-reference-to-the-narrative-of-event_1898997.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/thucydides-2578_accounts_with-reference-to-the-narrative-of-event_1898997.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/thucydides-2578_accounts_with-reference-to-the-narrative-of-event_1898997.png) > “With reference to the narrative of events, far from permitting myself to derive it from the first source that came to hand, I did not even trust my own impressions, but it rests partly on what I saw myself, partly on what others saw for me, the accuracy of the report always being tried by the most severe and detailed tests possible. My conclusions have cost me some labor from the want of coincidence between accounts of the same occurrences by different eye-witnesses, arising sometimes from imperfect memory, sometimes from undue partiality for one side or the other.” [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He emphasizes rigorous cross‑checking of eyewitness accounts and personal observation to ensure historical accuracy. **In simple terms:** Check multiple sources and personal observation for truth. Key Takeaway Validate claims through thorough, independent verification. Themes history methodology truth critical thinking Mood analytical skeptical inquisitive Type philosophical educational reflective When to use this quote - research - journalism - legal investigations - academic writing Key Concepts source criticism epistemology historical method Questions to Reflect On - How do you handle conflicting eyewitness reports? - What standards ensure source reliability? A Different Perspective Reliance on human memory can introduce bias despite rigorous testing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accounts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accounts/) [Accuracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accuracy/) [Coincidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coincidence/) [Coincidence Accounts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coincidence-accounts-2790096/) [Conclusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conclusion/) [Cost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cost/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Events](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/events/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Imperfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imperfect/) [Impression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impression/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [My own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-own/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Partiality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/partiality/) [Possible Conclusions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possible-conclusions-2790098/) [Reference Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reference-narrative-2790097/) [Reports](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reports/) [Saw Partly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saw-partly-2790099/) [Saws](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saws/) [Severe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/severe/) [Sides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sides/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Source](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/source/) [Tests](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tests/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Witness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witness/) ## Related quotes > [“People are inclined to accept all stories of ancient times in an uncritical way -even when those stories concern their own native counties...Most people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/people-are-inclined-to-accept-all-stories-of-ancient-times-in-an/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [The first law of history is to dread uttering a falsehood; the next is not to fear stating the truth; lastly, the historian's writings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-leo-xiii/the-first-law-of-history-is-to-dread-uttering-a-falsehood-the-next-is/) [Pope Leo XIII](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-leo-xiii/) > [Men are not philosophers, but are rather very foolish children, who, by reason of their partiality, see everything in the most absurd manner, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/men-are-not-philosophers-but-are-rather-very-foolish-children-who-by/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/excessive-partiality-for-one-foreign-nation-and-excessive-dislike-of/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [With regard to Banks, they have taken too deep and too wide a root in social transactions, to be got rid of altogether, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/with-regard-to-banks-they-have-taken-too-deep-and-too-wide-a-root-in/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [“Some people would regard people who look like they do as ugly if they did not look like them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-people-would-regard-people-who-look-like-they-do-as-ugly-if-they/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [Time, so complain'd of, Who to no one man Shows partiality, Brings round to all men Some undimm'd hours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/time-so-complain-d-of-who-to-no-one-man-shows-partiality-brings-round/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [Smitten as we are with the vision of social righteousness, a God indifferent to everything but adulation, and full of partiality for his individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/smitten-as-we-are-with-the-vision-of-social-righteousness-a-god/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [I have developed a very strong partiality for the dead: they don't talk back, they don't sue, and they don't have angry relatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/i-have-developed-a-very-strong-partiality-for-the-dead-they-don-t/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“That our selves and all men are apt and prone to differ it is no new Thing in all former Ages in all parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-williams/that-our-selves-and-all-men-are-apt-and-prone-to-differ-it-is-no-new/) [Roger Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-williams/) > [Who does not know history's first law to be that an author must not dare to tell anything but the truth? And its second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/who-does-not-know-history-s-first-law-to-be-that-an-author-must-not/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [We can make ourselves whole only by accepting our partiality, by living within our limits, by being humans not by trying to be gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/we-can-make-ourselves-whole-only-by-accepting-our-partiality-by/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The republic I fell in love with, the republic I risked my life to defend, the values I hold dear, the integrity that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-west/the-republic-i-fell-in-love-with-the-republic-i-risked-my-life-to/) [Allen West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-west/) > [We can today open wide the history of their administrations and point with pride to every act, and challenge the world to point out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-toombs/we-can-today-open-wide-the-history-of-their-administrations-and-point/) [Robert Toombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-toombs/) > [The novelist must look on humanity without partiality or prejudice. His sympathy, like that of the historian, must be unbounded, and untainted by sect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goldwin-smith/the-novelist-must-look-on-humanity-without-partiality-or-prejudice/) [Goldwin Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goldwin-smith/) ## More by Thucydides > [Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/be-convinced-that-to-be-happy-means-to-be-free-and-that-to-be-free/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [It is the habit of mankind to entrust to careless hope what they long for, and to use sovereign reason to thrust aside what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/it-is-the-habit-of-mankind-to-entrust-to-careless-hope-what-they-long/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Boasting and bravado may exist in the breast even of the coward, if he is successful through a mere lucky hit; but a just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/boasting-and-bravado-may-exist-in-the-breast-even-of-the-coward-if-he/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Contempt for an assailant is best shown by bravery in action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/contempt-for-an-assailant-is-best-shown-by-bravery-in-action/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [The secret of happiness is freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/the-secret-of-happiness-is-freedom/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [And it is certain that those who do not yield to their equals, who keep terms with their superiors, and are moderate towards their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/and-it-is-certain-that-those-who-do-not-yield-to-their-equals-who/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [The strong do what they have to do and the weak accept what they have to accept.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/the-strong-do-what-they-have-to-do-and-the-weak-accept-what-they-have/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [It is useless to attack men who could not be controlled even if conquered, while failure would leave us in an even worse position...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/it-is-useless-to-attack-men-who-could-not-be-controlled-even-if/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [War is an evil thing; but to submit to the dictation of other states is worse… Freedom, if we hold fast to it, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/war-is-an-evil-thing-but-to-submit-to-the-dictation-of-other-states/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Men do not rest content with parrying the attacks of a superior, but often strike the first blow to prevent the attack being made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/men-do-not-rest-content-with-parrying-the-attacks-of-a-superior-but/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [As for democracy, the men of sense among us knew what it was, and I perhaps as well as any, as I have more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/as-for-democracy-the-men-of-sense-among-us-knew-what-it-was-and-i/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [War is a matter not so much of arms as of money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/war-is-a-matter-not-so-much-of-arms-as-of-money/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Amassing of wealth is an opportunity for good deeds, not hubris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/amassing-of-wealth-is-an-opportunity-for-good-deeds-not-hubris/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [People get into the habit of entrusting the things they desire to wishful thinking, and subjecting things they don't desire to exhaustive thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/people-get-into-the-habit-of-entrusting-the-things-they-desire-to/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [Hope is an expensive commodity. It makes better sense to be prepared.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/hope-is-an-expensive-commodity-it-makes-better-sense-to-be-prepared/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) [Explore all 160 Thucydides quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) ## More Accounts quotes > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/think-of-these-things-whence-you-came-where-you-are-going-and-to-whom/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [The Hindus have a peculiar slovenliness in business matters, not being sufficiently methodical and strict in keeping accounts etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-hindus-have-a-peculiar-slovenliness-in-business-matters-not-being/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [With the Truman book, I wrote the entire account of his experiences in World War I before going over to Europe to follow his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/with-the-truman-book-i-wrote-the-entire-account-of-his-experiences-in/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [A great read; an exciting, frightening account of organized crime today. But like all important works of nonfiction, it goes further… This book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-ly-hayslip/a-great-read-an-exciting-frightening-account-of-organized-crime-today/) [Le Ly Hayslip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-ly-hayslip/) > [I had a very blessed journey with the upbringing I had. When you're working on sets as a stuntman, you have a firsthand account…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ric-roman-waugh/i-had-a-very-blessed-journey-with-the-upbringing-i-had-when-you-re/) [Ric Roman Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ric-roman-waugh/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [You've got to exercise. Your health account, your bank account, they're the same thing. The more you put in, the more you can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-lalanne/you-ve-got-to-exercise-your-health-account-your-bank-account-they-re/) [Jack LaLanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-lalanne/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [God puts you where God needs you. You are where you are supposed to be. The job you are doing may not be any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-kushner/god-puts-you-where-god-needs-you-you-are-where-you-are-supposed-to-be/) [Lawrence Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-kushner/) > [Stop trying to treat music like it's a tennis shoe, something to be branded. If the music industry wants to save money, they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-tweedy/stop-trying-to-treat-music-like-it-s-a-tennis-shoe-something-to-be/) [Jeff Tweedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-tweedy/) > [Anyone who thinks science is trying to make human life easier or more pleasant is utterly mistaken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/anyone-who-thinks-science-is-trying-to-make-human-life-easier-or-more/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [That surely must be a concern to anyone who decides this drug must be given to stop transmissions, again from mother to child, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thabo-mbeki/that-surely-must-be-a-concern-to-anyone-who-decides-this-drug-must-be/) [Thabo Mbeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thabo-mbeki/) [Browse all 2,677 Accounts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accounts/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "With reference to the narrative of events, far from permitting myself to derive it from the first source that came to hand, I did not even trust my own impressions, but it rests partly on what I saw myself, partly on what others saw for me, the accuracy of the report always being tried by the most severe and detailed tests possible. 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