QuoteProject
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
Bill Watterson
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

History is shaped by our interpretations and beliefs, often changing as societal values evolve.

This quote by Bill Watterson suggests that history is not merely a factual recounting of events; rather, it is a narrative constructed by society to make sense of the past. Watterson argues that as our values and prejudices shift over time, so too does our interpretation of historical events, necessitating new versions of history that resonate with contemporary perspectives. This reflects the idea that history is subjective and can be influenced by the cultural and moral standards of different eras.

Themes

HistoryInterpretationNarrativeValuesPersuasionPrejudice

In practice

Example use cases

Use this quote in a discussion about the subjectivity of historical narratives.

More from Bill Watterson

Life is like topography, Hobbes. There are summits of happiness and success, flat stretches of boring routine and valleys of frustration and failure.
Bill WattersonRead
Sometimes when I'm talking, my words can't keep up with my thoughts. I wonder why we think faster than we speak. Probably so we can think twice.
Bill WattersonRead
The secret to enjoying your job is to have a hobby that's even worse
Bill WattersonRead
Shutting off the thought process is not rejuvenating; the mind is like a car battery - it recharges by running.
Bill WattersonRead
Mothers are the necessity of invention.
Bill WattersonRead
Dad: Honey, have you seen my glasses? I can"t find them. Mom: I haven't seen them. Calvin: (with glasses, to Dad) Calvin, go do something you hate! Being miserable builds character!
Bill WattersonRead

Similar quotes

I think if a physician wrote on a death certificate that old age was the cause of death, he'd be thrown out of the union. There is always some final event, some failure of an organ, some last attack of pneumonia, that finishes off a life. No one dies of old age.
George WaldRead
Well, the truth is, if you really listen to that bird on your shoulder, if you accept that you can die at any time–then you might not be as ambitious as you are.
Morrie SchwartzRead
Perhaps what I am about to say will appear strange to you gentlemen, socialists, progressives, humanitarians as you are, but I never worry about my neighbor, I never try to protect society which does not protect me -- indeed, I might add, which generally takes no heed of me except to do me harm -- and, since I hold them low in my esteem and remain neutral towards them, I believe that society and my neighbor are in my debt.
Alexandre DumasRead
There is no way you can get people to believe you on screen if they know who you really are through television.
Jack NicholsonRead
The dialectic cannot stop short before the conceptsof health and sickness, nor indeed before their siblings reason and unreason.
Theodor AdornoRead
God does not know whether a skin is black or white, He sees only souls.
Katherine Anne PorterRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.