no great matter

"...the miscellaneous learning of the bookstore, unorganized by any large purpose, the undisciplined undirected curiosity of the indolent lover of reading." --Edmund Wilson

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      This solidarity of the ages is so effective that the lines of connection work both ways. Misunderstanding of the present is the inevitable consequence of ignorance of the past. But a man may wear himself out just as fruitlessly in seeking to understand the past, if he is totally ignorant of the present. There is an anecdote which I have already recounted elsewhere: I had gone with Henri Pirenne to Stockholm; we had scarcely arrived, when he said to me: “What shall we go to see first? It seems that there is a new city hall here. Let’s start there.” Then, as if to ward off my surprise, he added: “If I were an antiquarian, I would have eyes only for old stuff, but I am a historian. Therefore, I love life.”

      Marc Bloch, The Historian's Craft

    Further Reading

    • 11D
    • Acephalous
    • Chapati Mystery
    • Cliopatria...
    • ...and its massive blogroll
    • Clioweb
    • Crooked Timber
    • Early Modern Notes
    • Easily Distracted
    • Fafblog
    • fortuna
    • Histori-blogography
    • John & Belle
    • The Little Professor
    • Michael Berube
    • Mode for Caleb
    • New Kid on the Hallway
    • Rhine River
    • Roblog
    • Sue and Not You
    • The Weblog
    • wolfangel

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      "He was a guy who talked with commas, like a heavy novel."
      Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye

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