The challenge for a nonfiction writer is to achieve a poetic precision using the documents of truth but somehow to make people and places spring to life as if the reader was in their presence.
Simon SchamaRead
I understood when I was quite small that there were two special things about the Jews. That we'd endured for over 3,000 years despite everything that had been thrown at us, and that we had an extraordinarily dramatic story to tell.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the resilience and rich narrative of the Jewish people throughout history.
In this quote, Simon Schama reflects on the extraordinary endurance of the Jewish people over thousands of years in the face of adversity. He emphasizes that not only have they survived monumental challenges, but they also possess a remarkable history filled with dramatic storytelling that contributes to their identity and cultural heritage.
Themes
JewsEnduranceHistoryStorytellingResilience
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at a cultural event emphasizing the importance of heritage.
More from Simon Schama
All quotes →In its Greek origins, historia meant inquiry, and from Thucydides onwards, the past has been studied to understand its connections with the present.
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Jewish history turns out not to be an either/or story - as in, either pure Judaism detached from its surroundings or else assimilation - but rather, for the vast majority, the adventure of living in between.
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History is admirably dangerous. It is not the soft option. Teachers need to be grown up and brave. Sensitivity is fine, but it stops at the door of honest narrative.
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History gives you insight of the same quality of truth as poetry or philosophy or a novel.
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From the very beginning, history wasn't content simply to be nostalgic fairytales; it wanted to make you think.
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