Provocative excerpts from primary and secondary sources (some with audio glosses). Read the rationale behind these sound bites for more information.

571-580 of 734 Sound Bites. [show all]

<  551-560  561-570  571-580  581-590  591-600  >

571) The Past is the key to the present and the mirror of the future. (Robert Fitzgerald) [SoundBite #1231]

572) Out of this sense of the situation comes the question which underlies this book: in a world where children are still not safe from starvation or bombs, should not the historian thrust himself and his writing into history, on behalf of goals in which he deeply believes? Are we historians not humans first, and scholars because of that? (Howard Zinn 1) [SoundBite #497]

573) In its surprisingly unsympathetic attitude to the military, the entertainment establishment is driven more by its own inner demons than by any desire to please the public. (Michael Medved 220) [SoundBite #493]

574) The facts are really not at all like fish on the fishmonger's slab. They are like fish swimming about in a vast and sometimes inaccessible ocean; and what the historian catches will depend, partly on chance, but mainly on what part of the ocean he chooses to fish in and what tackle he chooses to use -- these two factors being, of course, determined by the kind of fish he wants to catch. By and large, the historian will get the kind of facts he wants. History means interpretation. (Edward Hallett Carr 18) [SoundBite #492]

575) History can untie our minds, our bodies, our disposition to move -- to engage life rather than contemplating it as an outsider. It can do this by widening our views to include the silent voices of the past, so that we look behind the silence of the present. (Howard Zinn 54) [SoundBite #235]

576) Long before the horrors of the Rodney King incident and its tragic aftermath, Hollywood had begun to reassess its previously supportive attitude toward the police. (Michael Medved 222) [SoundBite #460]

577) It has always been a challenge for me to find any interest in actually studying history. Textbooks are often dull, the names of people blend, dates and places are jumbled together. The traditional methods used to teach history are too impersonal. I can't form a connection with any of the people or even begin to imagine how they felt, thought, acted, or even saw the world around them. Screenwriters, on the other hand, are able to provide me with something that I can start to understand. Characters remind me of actual people, a landscape is set, I can hear dialogue/phrases/slang that is inherent to a certain time period, etc. The "reel" is giving me something "real" to learn. Historical film presents a story that sparks my interest. Some may claim this image is distorted and skewed; however, I argue that textbooks and verbal information are subject to the same biases. In my opinion, film can be considered an interactive textbook. (Amy Isabelle, Lehigh University) [SoundBite #1222]

578) Recall Rousseau’s accusation : “We have physicists, geometricians, chemists, astronomers, poets, musicians, and painters in plenty, but we have no longer a citizen among us.” Since the eighteenth century, that list of specialists has grown, to include sociologists, political scientists, psychologists, historians. The scholars multiply diligently, but with little passion. The passion I speak of is the urgent desire for a better world. I will contend that it should overcome those professional rules which call, impossibly and callously, for neutrality. (Howard Zinn 1-2) [SoundBite #78]

579) Another way to cause history to stick is to present it so that it touches students' lives. (James W. Loewen 295) [SoundBite #1321]

580) Textbook authors seem to believe that Americans can be loyal to their government only as long as they believe it has never done anything bad. (James W. Loewen 229) [SoundBite #1329]