Primary Sources Quotes

I study history in order to give an interpretation.

History written today is much more accurate than history written in the 18th century.

I grew up loving history.

I've always been fascinated by history.

The man who first gave history a recognized place in science was an ancient historian.

There is no substitute for face-to-face reporting and research.

History is not only the record of the past, but also the discipline of investigating and interpreting the past. The study of history develops habits of critical thinking and effective writing, as well as cultivates the careful analysis of various types of quantitative and qualitative evidence.

It’s never been so easy to pretend to know so much without actually knowing anything. We pick topical, relevant bits from Facebook, Twitter or emailed news alerts, and then regurgitate them. […] What matters to us, awash in petabytes of data, is not necessarily having actually consumed this content firsthand but simply knowing that it exists — and having a position on it, being able to engage in the chatter *about* it. We come perilously close to performing a pastiche of knowledgeability that is really a new model of know-nothingness.

History is malleable. A new cache of diaries can shed new light, and archeological evidence can challenge our popular assumptions.

When I'm dealing with the 18th century, as I do in 'The Firebird,' the difficulty isn't only finding what a woman did, it's finding her at all. Most of the sources I'm dealing with - letters and memoirs and written reports of the day - have been written by men.

I enjoy the act of research. I'm researching as a means to an end, but I literally just enjoy reading about how people lived in the past and understanding it better.

I'm so proud of myself. I thought, 'I've got to learn about American history.' I literally took two months off and watched every documentary known to man. I really didn't know Benjamin Franklin was so cool.

Yeah, I love history and I loved it as a kid.

As a historian, I love every little detail, but whole long passages about wood paneling and journeys on horseback and every stop at every inn had to go out the window. I decided the history in the books should be like spice in a soup - a little went a long way. Like cilantro.

I like reading about the past. I'm definitely not a history buff, but I do read a bit of history now and again, and to do that for work is really exciting.

It is impossible to write ancient history because we do not have enough sources, and impossible to write modern history because we have far too many.

I read a lot of history for fun.

I like historical things; I like researching things.

History had its own way of explaining things. The way historians explain things is by telling a story.

There are not many academic disciplines that have their own section in a book store. History is one.

Now, whenever you read any historical document, you always evaluate it in light of the historical context.

With the World War II era, there's so much written material to draw on. When you go back to the 14th century, you have to imagine more.

There is nothing like first-hand evidence.

For 'Boxers & Saints,' I started by reading a couple of articles on the Internet, then writing a really rough outline, then getting more hardcore into the research. I went to a university library once a week for a year, year and a half.

I was always a history buff.