The footnote would seem to be the smallest detail in a work of history. Yet it carries a large burden of responsibility, testifying to the validity of the work, the integrity (and the humility) of the historian, and to the dignity of the discipline.
Interpretation
Footnotes may appear insignificant, but they hold great importance in supporting historical work.
Gertrude Himmelfarb emphasizes that, although footnotes are often considered trivial details in historical writing, they play a crucial role in validating the information presented, showcasing the historian's integrity, and upholding the respectability of history as a discipline. This observation highlights the importance of thoroughness and humility in scholarly work.
In practice
During a lecture about historiography, one might cite this quote to emphasize the importance of proper sourcing.
As liberty of thought is absolute, so is liberty of speech, which is 'inseparable' from the liberty of thought. Liberty of speech, moreover, is essential not only for its own sake but for the sake of truth, which requires absolute liberty for the utterance of unpopular and even demonstrably false opinions.
It has had a calamitous effect on converted peoples. To be converted you have to destroy your past, destroy your history. You have to stamp on it, you have to say 'my ancestral culture does not exist, it doesn't matter'.
He [Napoleon] was as great as a man can be without morality.
To see the other side, to defend another people, not despite your tradition but because of it, is the heart of pluralism
I do not think psychoanalysis has a scientific basis. If we can't explain why a cockroach decides to turn left, how can we explain why a human being decides to do something?
I understood . . . that those who desired salvation should act like the trustee who, though having control over great possessions, regards not an iota of them as his own.
When the ocean surges, don't let me just hear it. Let it splash inside my chest!
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