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E. H. Carr on History

1892–1982 England

← All quotes by E. H. Carr

3 quotes

It is nonsense to say that generalization is foreign to history; history thrives on generalizations.

What is History? (1961)

History consists of a corpus ascertained facts. The facts are available to the historian in documents, inscriptions and so on, like fish in the fishmonger's slab. The historian collects them, takes them home, and cooks and serves them in whatever style appeals to him.

What is History? (1961)

The historian and the facts of history are necessary to one another. The historian without his facts is rootless and futile; the facts without their historian are dead and meaningless. My first answer therefore to the question, What is History?, is that it is a continuous process of interaction between the historian and his facts, an unending dialogue between the present and the past.

What is History? (1961)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: E. H. Carr (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.