--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What the British seem to like are…" description: "\"What the British seem to like are television historians and naturalists, not public intellectuals. You can't help feeling that's because one supplies n..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edd/will-self-2296_british_what-the-british-seem-to-like-are-televi_2623633.png" --- # What the British seem to like are television historians… ![“What the British seem to like are television historians and naturalists, not public intellectuals. You can't help feeling that's because one supplies narrative and the other supplies facts, and the British are traditionally empiricists so they/we have a resistance to theory and to theoreticians…” quote by Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edd/will-self-2296_british_what-the-british-seem-to-like-are-televi_2623633.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edd/will-self-2296_british_what-the-british-seem-to-like-are-televi_2623633.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/edd/will-self-2296_british_what-the-british-seem-to-like-are-televi_2623633.png) > “What the British seem to like are television historians and naturalists, not public intellectuals. You can't help feeling that's because one supplies narrative and the other supplies facts, and the British are traditionally empiricists so they/we have a resistance to theory and to theoreticians playing too prominent a role in public life.” [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. British public discourse prefers narrative storytellers over abstract theorists, reflecting a cultural bias toward empirical evidence over theory. **In simple terms:** Brits favor stories over theory. Key Takeaway Embrace narrative when communicating ideas. Themes culture media empiricism public discourse theory Mood analytical critical observational Type philosophical commentary When to use this quote - media analysis - political commentary - education - public speaking Key Concepts narrative bias empiricist tradition public intellectuals Questions to Reflect On - How does narrative shape public opinion? - Can theory be made more accessible? A Different Perspective Narratives may oversimplify complex issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [British](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Help](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/help/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Intellectuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectuals/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Naturalist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/naturalist/) [Public life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-life/) [Resistance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resistance/) [Television](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/television/) ## Related quotes > [There's a flip side to having prominent public intellectuals, which is that they start meddling in politics and often with quite disastrous results.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/there-s-a-flip-side-to-having-prominent-public-intellectuals-which-is/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [It is really laughable to see what different ideas are prominent in various naturalists' minds, when they speak of 'species'; in some, resemblance is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-is-really-laughable-to-see-what-different-ideas-are-prominent-in/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [The United States has degenerated into a social order that is awash in public stupidity and views critical thought as both a liability and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/the-united-states-has-degenerated-into-a-social-order-that-is-awash/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [It is time that scientists and other public intellectuals observed that the contest between faith and reason is zero-sum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/it-is-time-that-scientists-and-other-public-intellectuals-observed/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [Public intellectuals come from a range of areas and use their expertise to comment more widely than just their field. They want to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susie-orbach/public-intellectuals-come-from-a-range-of-areas-and-use-their/) [Susie Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susie-orbach/) > [Public intellectuals are often put in the position of having their words, no matter how off-the-cuff, treated as doctrine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roxane-gay/public-intellectuals-are-often-put-in-the-position-of-having-their/) [Roxane Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roxane-gay/) > [We live in a country where posting 'Let's riot or something bruv!' on Facebook will get you a couple of years in prison, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frankie-boyle/we-live-in-a-country-where-posting-let-s-riot-or-something-bruv-on/) [Frankie Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frankie-boyle/) > [We have so few unaffiliated public intellectuals now - people who are not beholden to a think tank, corporate-owned media, or academic department -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-mishra/we-have-so-few-unaffiliated-public-intellectuals-now-people-who-are/) [Pankaj Mishra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-mishra/) > [These anti-public intellectuals are part of a disimagination machine that solidifies the power of the rich and the structures of the military-industrial-surveillance-academic complex by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/these-anti-public-intellectuals-are-part-of-a-disimagination-machine/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [I think public intellectuals have a responsibility - to be self-critical on the one hand, to do serious, nuanced work rigorously executed; but to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-think-public-intellectuals-have-a-responsibility-to-be-self/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I think I'll always be a better playwright than a pundit, but I believe that writers should be public intellectuals and that theater, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/i-think-i-ll-always-be-a-better-playwright-than-a-pundit-but-i/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [Public values are not only under attack in the United States and elsewhere but appear to have become irrelevant just as those spaces that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/public-values-are-not-only-under-attack-in-the-united-states-and/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [Nothing can be more improving to a young naturalist, than a journey in a distant country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/nothing-can-be-more-improving-to-a-young-naturalist-than-a-journey-in/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [The answers to our questions are everywhere; we just need to change the lens with which we see the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/the-answers-to-our-questions-are-everywhere-we-just-need-to-change/) [Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/) > [Savages have often been likened to children, and the comparison is not only correct but also highly instructive. Many naturalists consider that the early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lubbock/savages-have-often-been-likened-to-children-and-the-comparison-is-not/) [John Lubbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lubbock/) ## More by Will Self > [As for critical writing about modernism, its moments of lucidity are but fulgurations illuminating the dark and incomprehensible landscape of its subject's unabashed difficulty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-for-critical-writing-about-modernism-its-moments-of-lucidity-are/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“As my voice died away I became conscious of the voice of another woman two tables away. I couldn't hear what she was saying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-my-voice-died-away-i-became-conscious-of-the-voice-of-another/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [That tertiary education is under a sustained assault by a political and - it often seems - social consensus that equates all education with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/that-tertiary-education-is-under-a-sustained-assault-by-a-political/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'm an anarchist. I'm implacably opposed to heirarchical systems of power and control. I also mistrust crowds, as they often operate according to their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-an-anarchist-i-m-implacably-opposed-to-heirarchical-systems-of/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [What fiction offers us is an intimacy shorn of the messy contingencies of human existence - gender, race, class or age. Those moments of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/what-fiction-offers-us-is-an-intimacy-shorn-of-the-messy/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'd rather fiddle with my phone for precious seconds than neglect an apostrophe; I'd rather insert a word laboriously keyed out than resort to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-d-rather-fiddle-with-my-phone-for-precious-seconds-than-neglect-an/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I'm very happy for whatever plaudits might come the way of my work, but I never ever sit down to write x with y…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-m-very-happy-for-whatever-plaudits-might-come-the-way-of-my-work/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [As a writer, I'm not convinced that we are the best equipped to understand how we go about the business of literary production.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/as-a-writer-i-m-not-convinced-that-we-are-the-best-equipped-to/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“I explained to him - as I withdrew the cup, ripped open the sachet and dunked the tea bag - that tea was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-explained-to-him-as-i-withdrew-the-cup-ripped-open-the-sachet-and/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [There is something mysteriously powerful that can happen when young, inchoate minds come into contact with older and more worldly ones in a spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/there-is-something-mysteriously-powerful-that-can-happen-when-young/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [It would seem that I, who never could make much sense of physics when I was at school, have now gained a strong sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/it-would-seem-that-i-who-never-could-make-much-sense-of-physics-when/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [Drug use and procrastination often go hand in tourniquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/drug-use-and-procrastination-often-go-hand-in-tourniquet/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [“…with the morbid realisation that his sexual being was a dull thing, a lifeless thing, a mass-produced marionette with chipped paint and fraying strings”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/with-the-morbid-realisation-that-his-sexual-being-was-a-dull-thing-a/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [A creative life cannot be sustained by approval any more than it can be destroyed by criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/a-creative-life-cannot-be-sustained-by-approval-any-more-than-it-can/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) > [I don't think in terms of that bizarre tautology 'value for money' in my literary and journalistic work - and nor will I in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-self/i-don-t-think-in-terms-of-that-bizarre-tautology-value-for-money-in/) [Will Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) [Explore all 172 Will Self quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-self/) ## More British quotes > [I'd love to work in the States; I'd love to work anywhere where you get a good script and a good part to play.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-carmichael/i-d-love-to-work-in-the-states-i-d-love-to-work-anywhere-where-you/) [Laura Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-carmichael/) > [I shot for French and British Vogue. The British Vogue one featured clothes by Chloe and was shot at Highgate and the John Soane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nan-goldin/i-shot-for-french-and-british-vogue-the-british-vogue-one-featured/) [Nan Goldin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nan-goldin/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [ No wonder that Churchill described this effort \[the British codebreakers working at Bletchley Park\] as "Britian"s secret weapon," a weapon far more effective than… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hilton/no-wonder-that-churchill-described-this-effort-the-british/) [Peter Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hilton/) > [When we first sold the Wallace and Gromit shorts to America, people suggested we get rid of the strange British accents and put clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-park/when-we-first-sold-the-wallace-and-gromit-shorts-to-america-people/) [Nick Park](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-park/) > [I always wanted to make a 'James Bond' film, and they only seemed to hire British directors, and I'd made 'Swingers' - they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-liman/i-always-wanted-to-make-a-james-bond-film-and-they-only-seemed-to/) [Doug Liman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-liman/) > [Somebody said that part of my reaction to British cinema is actually, paradoxically, a patriotic one. I'm so disappointed that we're not better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-brownlow/somebody-said-that-part-of-my-reaction-to-british-cinema-is-actually/) [Kevin Brownlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-brownlow/) > [All the cliches of glamorous sophistication have little appeal to me. Do I want to live the British version of 'Dynasty?' No thanks!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sade-adu/all-the-cliches-of-glamorous-sophistication-have-little-appeal-to-me/) [Sade Adu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sade-adu/) > [British Forces should be in a position to give back in a ten fold measure any attack that the Germans may attempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-banting/british-forces-should-be-in-a-position-to-give-back-in-a-ten-fold/) [Frederick Banting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-banting/) > [Although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/although-i-don-t-have-anything-against-people-from-other-countries/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It could be my British need for discipline that makes me admire the American appetite for freedom and passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-winwood/it-could-be-my-british-need-for-discipline-that-makes-me-admire-the/) [Steve Winwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-winwood/) > [While we like to think queueing is unique to British culture, the truth is that we are mere amateurs. The old Soviet Union turned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-hartley-brewer/while-we-like-to-think-queueing-is-unique-to-british-culture-the/) [Julia Hartley-Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-hartley-brewer/) > [The American Constitution declares 'All men are born equal.' The British Socialist Party add: 'All men must be kept equal'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-american-constitution-declares-all-men-are-born-equal-the-british/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [The whole nuclear-arms-control and non-proliferation policy of the nuclear powers is a fraud: The Americans could not prevent the Soviets from replicating their weaponry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-black/the-whole-nuclear-arms-control-and-non-proliferation-policy-of-the/) [Conrad Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-black/) > [There just seems to be more acceptance now of other kinds of British films, than the picture-postcard ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-roth/there-just-seems-to-be-more-acceptance-now-of-other-kinds-of-british/) [Tim Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-roth/) [Browse all 3,149 British quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What the British seem to like are television historians and naturalists, not public intellectuals. 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