History is a myth that men agree to believe.
Napoleon BonaparteRead
History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.
Interpretation
What this quote means
History is shaped by collective agreement about what happened in the past.
This quote by Napoleon Bonaparte suggests that history is not just a series of events, but rather a collective narrative agreed upon by people. It implies that our understanding of history is influenced by perspectives, biases, and the choices made by those who record it, leading to a subjective version of past events that can vary from one group to another.
Themes
HistoryEventsPerspectiveAgreementInterpretation
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about how history is taught in schools.
More from Napoleon Bonaparte
All quotes →One must indeed be ignorant of the methods of genius to suppose that it allows itself to be cramped by forms. Forms are for mediocrity, and it is fortunate that mediocrity can act only according to routine. Ability takes its flight unhindered.
Napoleon BonaparteRead
One can lead a nation only by helping it see a bright outlook. A leader is a dealer in hope.
Napoleon BonaparteRead
We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him.
Napoleon BonaparteRead
Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.
Napoleon BonaparteRead
It is my wish that my ashes may repose on the banks of the Seine, in the midst of the French people, whom I have loved so well.
Napoleon BonaparteRead
Similar quotes
I like a view but I like to sit with my back turned to it.
Gertrude SteinRead
Even in this world where you’re getting everything you need and having this nice life, there’s still loneliness and longing and disconnection.
Spike JonzeRead
Most affectations conceal something eventually, even though they don't in the beginning.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead
I'm not much like myself any more.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead
I believe in the sun. In the tangle of human failures of fear, greed and forgetfulness, the sun gives me clarity.
Joy HarjoRead
In ancient, prehistoric times, the temples of the spirit were outwardly visible, but today, when our life has become so unspiritual, they no longer exist where we can see them with our physical eyes. Yet spiritually they are still present everywhere, and whoever seeks can find them.
Rudolf SteinerRead