FastSaying

Theories of history used to be supernatural: the divine ruled time; the hand of God, a special providence, lay behind the fall of each sparrow. If the present differed from the past, it was usually worse: supernatural theories of history tend to involve decline, a fall from grace, the loss of God's favor, corruption.

Jill Lepore

Jill Lepore

BehindCorruptionDeclineDivineEachFallFavorGodGraceHandHistoryInvolveLayLossPastPresentProvidenceRuledSparrowSpecialSupernaturalTendTheoriesTimeUsedWorse

Related Quotes

Folklore used to be passed by word of mouth, from one generation to the next; that's what makes it folklore, as opposed to, say, history, which is written down and stored in an archive.
— Jill Lepore
DownFolkloreGeneration
The idea of progress - the notion that human history is the history of human betterment - dominated the world view of the West between the Enlightenment and the First World War.
— Jill Lepore
BetweenDominatedEnlightenment
Clarence Darrow, America's best-known trial lawyer, was also one of American history's most skilled orators.
— Jill Lepore
AlsoAmericaAmerican
Conservatism cherishes tradition; innovation fetishizes novelty. They tug in different directions, the one toward the past, the other toward the future.
— Jill Lepore
ConservatismDifferentDifferent Directions
All divine power is within you to accomplish great things.
— Lailah Gifty Akita
accomplishaccomplish-great-thingsaccomplish-the-impossible