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About this quote

What does it mean?
History is shaped by a few powerful metaphors rather than complex details.
In plain terms
History is mostly a few big ideas repeated.
What can you take from it?
Big ideas shape how we see history.

Where it applies

  • studying history
  • writing

Putting it to work

  • critiquing historical narratives

Questions to consider

  • What metaphors guide your view?
  • How much of history is true?

Another view

Metaphors may hide important details.

More from Jorge Luis Borges

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  2. In the course of a life devoted less to living than to reading, I have verified many times that literary intentions and theories are nothing more than stimuli …

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  3. I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses idle details, just as our memor…

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