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 βOne 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
There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.
Winston ChurchillRead
You run and you run to catch up to the sun but it's sinking, racing around to come up behind you again.
Roger WatersRead
I am but a poor struggling soul yearning to be wholly good, wholly truthful and wholly non-violent in thought, word and deed, but ever failing to reach the ideal which I know to be true. It is a painful climb, but each step upwards makes me feel stronger and fit for the next.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Why we are here is an impenetrable question.
Edward AlbeeRead
The greatest gift that God in His bounty made in creation, and the most conformable to His goodness, and that which He prizes the most, was the freedom of will, with which the creatures with intelligence, they all and they alone, were and are endowed.
Dante AlighieriRead
Here is an entirely banal idea that I think has the potential to change the world: Take evidence seriously. Taking evidence seriously does not mean privileging numbers over all other forms of knowledge - theories, narratives, images. Nor does it mean the kind of radical skepticism that questions everything to the point where no action is possible.
Abhijit BanerjeeRead