History is wonderful. We have so much we can learn if we would quit making ideology out of history, and just deal with what happened…

No history can be bad so long as it is true

History is in a manner a sacred thing, so far as it contains truth; for where truth is, the supreme Father of it may also be said to be, at least, inasmuch as concerns truth.

Le présent serait plein de tous les avenirs, si le passé n'y projetait déjà une histoire.

What is history but a fable agreed upon ?

The great historian John Hope Franklin, who helped to get this museum started, once said, “Good history is a good foundation for a better present and future.” He understood the best history doesn’t just sit behind a glass case; it helps us to understand what’s outside the case. The best history helps us recognize the mistakes that we’ve made and the dark corners of the human spirit that we need to guard against. And, yes, a clear-eyed view of history can make us uncomfortable, and shake us out of familiar narratives. But it is precisely because of that discomfort that we learn and grow and harness our collective power to make this nation more perfect.

Truth is the only merit that gives dignity and worth to history.

What then is, generally speaking, the truth of history? A fable agreed upon.

History, too, is meaningful only by indicating some transcendent purpose beyond the actual facts. ... To venture a statement about the meaning of historical events is possible only when their telos becomes apparent.

If mankind had always been logical and wise, history would not be a long chronicle of folly and crime.

This above all makes history useful and desirable: it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions.

History is only true for the time being; each new generation of scholars rewrites the work of its predecessors. But such revisers rarely go back to the beginning and start from scratch. Instead they build uncritically on “generally accepted” foundations laid down by their predecessors. These traditional, established truths of history have a large symbolic component of which their exponents are usually unaware.

"Napoleon once said, "What is history, but a fable agreed upon?" He smiled. "By its very nature, history is always a one-sided account.

Yes, I know, it's not the truth, but in a great history little truths can be altered so that the greater truth emerges.