Quotes from book
The Whig Interpretation of History

The Whig Interpretation of History
Herbert Butterfield

A classic essay on the distortions of history that occur when historians impose a rigid point of view on the study of the past.

“We have to be on our guard when the whig historian tells us… that the Reformation is justified because it ultimately led to liberty… for it is possible to argue against the whig historian that the ultimate issue which he applauds only came in the long run from the fact that, in its immediate results, The Reformation was disastrous to liberty.”

Herbert Butterfield book The Whig Interpretation of History

Source: The Whig Interpretation of History (1931)

“If history can do anything it is to remind us of those complications that undermine our certainties, and to show us that all our judgements are merely relative to time and circumstance. …we can never assert that history has proved any man right in the long run.”

Herbert Butterfield book The Whig Interpretation of History

The Whig Interpretation of History (1931)

“The study of the past with one eye upon the present is the source of all sins and sophistries in history. It is the essence of what we mean by the word "unhistorical".””

Herbert Butterfield book The Whig Interpretation of History

The Whig Interpretation of History (1931)

“When the sins and errors of an age have made the world impossible to live in, the next generation, seeking to make life tolerable again, may be able to find no way save by surrender of cherished ideals, and so may find themselves compelled to cast about for new dreams and purposes. An important aspect of the historical process is the work of the new generation… being driven to something like a creative act for the very reason that life on the old terms has become impossible.”

Herbert Butterfield book The Whig Interpretation of History

The Whig Interpretation of History (1931)

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