Love consists in leaving the loved one space to be themselves while providing the security within which that self may flourish.
Tony JudtRead
History can show you that it was one pile of bad stuff after another. It can also show you that there's been tremendous progress in knowledge, behaviour, laws, civilisation. It cannot show you that there was a meaning behind it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
History is a collection of events that can be seen as either negative or positive progress, but it lacks intrinsic meaning.
In this quote, Tony Judt reflects on the dual nature of history, suggesting that while it can reveal a series of challenges and adversities, it also highlights significant progress in human understanding and civilization. However, he emphasizes that history does not inherently provide meaning to these events, inviting contemplation on the nature of progress and the interpretations we assign to the past.
Themes
HistoryProgressMeaningCivilizationKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a lecture about the interpretation of historical events.
More from Tony Judt
All quotes →If active or concerned citizens forfeit politics, they thereby abandon their society to its most mediocre and venal public servants
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Obviously a primary liberal conviction is that we should be tolerant of other peoples' convictions. But if we believe in something, we had better find ways to say so convincingly.
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Social democracy does not represent an ideal future; it does not even represent the ideal past.
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What I am against is false optimism: the notion either that things have to go well, or else that they tend to, or else that the default condition of historical trajectories is characteristically beneficial in the long-run.
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I'm not sure I've learned anything new about life; but I've had to think harder about death and what comes after for other people.
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