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"From depicting the past, so goes the suspicion, it is a short step to glorifying the past."
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"I think there's something inherently dishonest in trying to go back and mess with the past."
"I want to praise activists through the years. I praise those of the past as well, to have them honored."
"There have to be more important things going on in the world than my past."
"The true picture of the past flits by. The past can be seized only as an image which flashes up at the instant when it can be recognized and is never seen again."
Past,
"One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present."
Explore more quotes by Lion Feuchtwanger
"What is a historian, anyway? It is someone who uses facts to record the development of humanity."
"I have always made an effort to render every detail of my reality with the greatest accuracy; but I have never paid attention to whether my presentation of historical facts was an exact one."
"An author who sets about to depict events of the past that have run their course is suspected of wishing to avoid the problems of the present day, of being, in other words, a reactionary."
"Like the philosopher, the author views his task as one of establishing a clear connection between life and history, and of making the past bear fruit for the present and future."
"I should add that it is open to debate whether what we call the writing of history these days is truly scientific."
"An action doesn't have to be wrong just because it is not logical. It doesn't have to be right just because it has its logic."
"After closely examining my conscience, I venture to state that in my historical novels I intended the content to be just as modern and up-to-date as in the contemporary ones."
"Ever since my youth it has disturbed me that of the literary works that survived their own epoch, so many dealt with historical rather than contemporary subjects."
"Asking the author of historical novels to teach you about history is like expecting the composer of a melody to provide answers about radio transmission."
"There's only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous, but there's no road leading from the ridiculous to the sublime."
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