When a documentary filmmaker, working in the style that I do, suggests that there has been a shooting ratio of 40 hours to every one hour of finished film, that doesn't mean that the other 39 are bad.
Ken BurnsRead
History isn't really about the past - settling old scores. It's about defining the present and who we are.
Interpretation
What this quote means
History helps us understand our current identity rather than just focusing on past events.
This quote emphasizes that history's true value lies not in merely recounting past events or revisiting grievances, but in shaping our understanding of the present and informing our identity. Ken Burns suggests that understanding where we come from allows us to define who we are today, encouraging us to learn from history to better navigate our present lives.
Themes
HistoryIdentityPresentUnderstandingSelf
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a history class to emphasize the importance of learning from past events.
More from Ken Burns
All quotes βI record all of my music with authentic instruments in a studio before we start editing, doing many, many versions. The music shapes the film as we edit so it has an organic relationship to the content.
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Good history is a question of survival. Without any past, we will deprive ourselves of the defining impression of our being.
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It is the great arrogance of the present to forget the intelligence of the past
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In most films music is brought in at the end, after the picture is more or less locked, to amplify the emotions the filmmaker wants you to feel.
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Jazz is a very accurate, curiously accurate accompaniment to 20th century America.
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Stern accuracy in inquiring, bold imagination in describing, these are the cogs on which history soars or flutters and wobbles.
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It all happened so fast. The ghetto. The deportation. The sealed cattle car. The fiery altar upon which the history of our people and the future of mankind were meant to be sacrificed.
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