Any child knows that history can only be a reduced representation of reality, but it must be a true one, not distorted by queer lenses. Samuel E. Morison childdistorthistory Change image and share on social
So I have cultivated the vast garden of human experience which is history, without troubling myself overmuch about laws, essential first causes, or how it is all coming out. Samuel E. Morison comecultivateessential Change image and share on social
Historical methodology, as I see it, is a product of common sense applied to circumstances. Samuel E. Morison applycircumstancecommon Change image and share on social
Everyone agrees to that; but when we come to define truth, dissension starts. Samuel E. Morison agreedefinedissension Change image and share on social
Yet enthusiasm is no excuse for the historian going off balance. He should remind the reader that outcomes were neither inevitable nor foreordained, but subject to a thousand changes and chances. Samuel E. Morison balancechanceenthusiasm Change image and share on social
In any case, his judgment and set of values, acting alone or through his assistants, determine not only what is gold and what is dross but the design of the history which he creates out of the metal. The historian decides what is significant, and what is not. Samuel E. Morison actassistantcase share on social