Quotes: History
5 quotes on this theme, each with its source and insight
The quotes
“The present is theirs; the future, for which I really worked, is mine.”
Source: no specific work is documented · Check the source
Disputed attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- Widely attributed to Nikola Tesla and often presented as the closing line of a longer statement about letting the future judge one's work.
- What remains uncertain
- Attribution is disputed: some cite a 1905 article, others a 1927 interview, but the exact English wording and primary source are not conclusively verified.
The line draws a sharp contrast between instant fame and historical vindication: Tesla stakes his claim on being judged by posterity rather than by contemporaries. It reflects a career of bold experiments, patent fights and ideas whose full value became clearer only later.
“I see History as a relay race in which one of us, before dropping in his tracks, must carry one stage further the challenge of being a man.”
Source: Promise at Dawn, 1961 · Check the source
Disputed attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The wording is strongly attributed to Romain Gary and is consistent with Promise at Dawn, though direct verification against a specific edition is lacking.
- What remains uncertain
- Attribution is probable but edition‑dependent: no translator, edition, or page number has been securely identified for the supplied wording.
The relay metaphor insists that moral duty is passed on: each person inherits a collective task and must extend it before dying. The line is strongly linked to Romain Gary and fits the themes of Promise at Dawn — it emphasizes ethical continuity over competition.
“The first sentence of every novel should be: Trust me, this will take time but there is order here, very faint, very human.”
Source: In the Skin of a Lion, 1987 · Check the source
Verified attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The sentence appears in Michael Ondaatje’s novel In the Skin of a Lion and is printed in a passage that continues, “Meander if you want to get to town.”
From In the Skin of a Lion, the line asks readers to trust a story that works slowly and subtly. It’s metafictional: the novel promises not a neat plot but a faint, humane order that emerges from overlapping lives and fragments of history.
“To foretell the destiny of a nation, it is necessary to open the book that tells of her past.”
Source: Filipinas dentro de cien años (The Philippines Within a Century), opening (essay, 1889–1890) · Check the source
Disputed attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The idea is traceable to the opening argument of Rizal's essay “The Philippines Within a Century,” serialized 1889–1890.
- What remains uncertain
- The familiar English wording is a translation or paraphrase; the precise sentence is not securely established in the documentary record.
Rizal argued that a nation's future is best judged by studying its past: historical patterns of domination, resistance, education and economy reveal likely trajectories and choices. He frames this argument at the start of his essay The Philippines Within a Century to ground civic reform in evidence.
“Every new social movement is initially accused of being the work of foreigners and heretics; if it succeeds and seizes power, it becomes part of religion itself and enters the record of inherited sacred things.”
Source: Wʿāẓ al‑Salāṭīn, p. 61 (1954) · Check the source
Verified attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The sentence is attributed to Ali al‑Wardi and appears as a passage in Wʿāẓ al‑Salāṭīn, commonly located on page 61.
- What remains uncertain
- Minor textual variants appear across editions and online transcriptions, but there is no serious evidence of another author.
Al‑Wardi warns that political success can rewrite a movement’s past: accusations of foreignness and heresy often become, after victory, framed as sacred, inherited tradition. The line appears in Wʿāẓ al‑Salāṭīn (commonly cited p. 61) and points to how power reshapes collective memory.