Biased History Quotes

There is that great proverb — that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.

History is a set of lies agreed upon.

People say history was written by the winners. No, it wasn't. It was written by the bullies.

History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit.

History is almost always written by the victors and conquerors and gives their view. Or, at any rate, the victors' version is given prominence and holds the field.

History, sir, will tell lies as usual.

I find that the history books that we teach our kids with are not fully truthful, in my opinion.

History is always written wrong, and so always needs to be rewritten. ...What is interesting is brought forward as if it had been central and efficacious in the march of events, and harmonies are turned into causes. Kings and generals are endowed with motives appropriate to what the historian values in their actions; plans are imputed to them prophetic of their actual achievements, while the thoughts that really preoccupied them remain buried in absolute oblivion.

Historians write favorably, you know, for example, about Stalin because he was doing big things.

The histories of mankind that we possess are histories only of the higher class.

Official history is believing the murderers at their word.

Since Caesar, we know his historians are liars. The good writers get read. Bad history doesn't get read.

In history there's what's written down and there's what actually happened.

History, like beauty, depends largely on the beholder, so when you read that, for example, David Livingstone discovered the Victoria Falls, you might be forgiven for thinking that there was nobody around the Falls until Livingstone arrived on the scene

Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands. I will not allow books to prove anything.

Where I'm from, we believe in all sorts of things that aren't true... we call it history.

The study of the past with one eye upon the present is the source of all sins and sophistries in history. It is the essence of what we mean by the word "unhistorical."

I have begun the 'History of England' by Mr. Hume. It seems to me very interesting, though it is necessary to recollect that it is a Protestant who has written it.

History is often not what actually happened but what is recorded as such.

The writing of history reflects the interests, predilections, and even prejudices of a given generation.

History is not melodrama, even if it usually reads like that.

History is an accumulation of error.

It will be found much better by all parties to leave the past to history, especially as I propose to write that history myself.

History is written by the rich so the poor get blamed for everything.

The only good histories are those written by those who had command in the events they describe.