History may be divided into three movements: what moves rapidly, what moves slowly and what appears not to move at all.
Fernand BraudelRead
For the historian everything begins and ends with time, a mathematical, godlike_x000D_ _x000D_ time, a notion easily mocked, time external to men, 'exogenous,' as economists_x000D_ _x000D_ would say, pushing men, forcing them, and painting their own individual times_x000D_ _x000D_ the same color: it is, indeed, the imperious time of the world.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the concept of time as an external force shaping human experiences and history.
Fernand Braudel's quote emphasizes the importance of time in understanding history. He describes time as a powerful, almost divine entity that influences people's lives and experiences, suggesting that individual human timelines are affected by a larger, imperious world time that cannot be ignored. This view challenges us to recognize how external forces shape our histories and perspectives.
Themes
TimeHistoryExternal ForcesHuman ExperiencePhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about historical timelines and their impact on society.
More from Fernand Braudel
All quotes →Events are the ephemera of history; they pass across its stage like fireflies, hardly glimpsed before they settle back into darkness and as often as not into oblivion. Every event, however brief, has to be sure a contribution to make, lights up some dark corner or even some wide vista of history. Nor is it only political history which benefits most, for every historical landscape - political, economic, social, even geographical - is illumined by the intermittent flare of the event.
Fernand BraudelRead
Leadership of a world-economy is an experience of power which may blind the victor to the march of history.
Fernand BraudelRead
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