As all historians know, the past is a great darkness, and filled with echoes. Voices may reach us from it; but what they say to us is imbued with the obscurity of the matrix out of which they come; and try as we may, we cannot always decipher them precisely in the clearer light of our day. Margaret Atwood
About This Quote

"All historians know that the past is a great darkness, and filled with echoes. Voices may reach us from it; but what they say to us is imbued with the obscurity of the matrix out of which they come; and try as we may, we cannot always decipher them precisely in the clearer light of our day." This quote by American philosopher William James was published in 1890. He was speaking about the way events in history are often murky, especially when they occur in distant places and over long periods of time. James believed that historical events are like ripples created in a pond when something big happens.

The ripple spreads out in all directions until it reaches other ponds, creating ripples that go in the same direction. James’ point is that when you read or hear about something in history, you should not only look for the information about what happened, but you should also look at where it happened and when it happened.

Source: The Handmaids Tale

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More Quotes By Margaret Atwood
  1. I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary.
  2. Falling in love, we said; I fell for him. We were falling women. We believed in it, this downward motion: so lovely, like flying, and yet at the same time so dire, so extreme, so unlikely. God is love, they once said, but we reversed...
  3. How could I be sleeping with this particular man.... Surely only true love could justify my lack of taste.
  4. A truth should exist, it should not be usedlike this. If I love youis that a fact or a weapon?
  5. Hatred would have been easier. With hatred, I would have known what to do. Hatred is clear, metallic, one-handed, unwavering; unlike love.
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