Having the urge to write a novel, especially if you've yet to be published, is like having a medical condition impossible to mention in polite company - it's a relief simply to know there are fellow-sufferers out there.
Robert HarrisRead
If one tries to think about history, it seems to me - it's like looking at a range of mountains. And the first time you see them, they look one way. But then time changes, the pattern of light shifts. Maybe you've moved slightly, your perspective has changed. The mountains are the same, but they look very different.
Interpretation
What this quote means
History can be viewed differently depending on our perspective and the passage of time.
This quote illustrates how our understanding of history is not static but changes with time and perspective. Just like mountains can appear different under varying light conditions or from different angles, our interpretation of historical events evolves, reminding us that history is subjective and can be revisited with new insights.
Themes
HistoryPerspectiveChangeTimeInterpretation
In practice
Example use cases
In a history class, to illustrate the importance of perspective when analyzing past events.
More from Robert Harris
All quotes →To tell a good story and to illuminate the world: the two things are completely linked. That is the point. That is what I've always wanted to do.
Robert HarrisRead
Similar quotes
It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much ... to forget it
James MadisonRead
He, however, who begins with Metaphysics, will not only become confused in matters of religion, but will fall into complete infidelity.
MaimonidesRead
Discipleship is based solely on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on following after a particular belief or doctrine.
Oswald ChambersRead
To know oneself is to study oneself in action, which is relationship.
Jiddu KrishnamurtiRead
Beware, all too often we say what we hear others say. We think what we are told that we think. We see what we are permitted to see. Worse, we see what we are told that we see.
Octavia E. ButlerRead
I've had the most untraumatic life a human being can have. But I've always been drawn to those who have had far more complicated histories.
Malcolm GladwellRead