Indebtedness among historians is a peculiar thing, however. We don’t simply, in mechanical fashion, inherit a body of knowledge, add something to it, and pass it on. We also question, test, and shake here and there the intellectual scaffolding surrounding our predecessors’ work, in the full, ironic knowledge that someone else is going to come along and give the scaffolding surrounding our own work a good shake, too, that no historian, in short, is ever permitted the final word. Paul A. Cohen
About This Quote

All of us are indebted to past generations of historians. Their work is the foundation of our knowledge, but it is constantly challenged, revised, and renewed. We must never stop questioning the work of our predecessors, but we must also never take their words for granted.

Source: Discovering History In China: American Historical Writing On The Recent Chinese Past

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