The challenge for a nonfiction writer is to achieve a poetic precision using the documents of truth but somehow to make people and places spring to life as if the reader was in their presence.
Simon SchamaRead
History gives you insight of the same quality of truth as poetry or philosophy or a novel.
Interpretation
What this quote means
History has a depth of truth comparable to the arts and literature, providing profound insights into the human experience.
In this quote, Simon Schama emphasizes the significant parallels between history and various forms of art and literature, such as poetry and novels. He suggests that just as these creative expressions reveal deeper truths about humanity and existence, so too does history offer profound insights, giving us a richer understanding of our past and its influence on the present and future.
Themes
HistoryTruthInsightPhilosophyArtLiterature
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is perfect for a discussion on the relevance of history in modern society.
More from Simon Schama
All quotes →In its Greek origins, historia meant inquiry, and from Thucydides onwards, the past has been studied to understand its connections with the present.
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Jewish history turns out not to be an either/or story - as in, either pure Judaism detached from its surroundings or else assimilation - but rather, for the vast majority, the adventure of living in between.
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I understood when I was quite small that there were two special things about the Jews. That we'd endured for over 3,000 years despite everything that had been thrown at us, and that we had an extraordinarily dramatic story to tell.
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History is admirably dangerous. It is not the soft option. Teachers need to be grown up and brave. Sensitivity is fine, but it stops at the door of honest narrative.
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From the very beginning, history wasn't content simply to be nostalgic fairytales; it wanted to make you think.
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