只有后來(lái)人評(píng)價(jià)以前的人,而不應(yīng)該同時(shí)代的人相互評(píng)價(jià)。
2.."When we concern ourselves with the study of history, we become storytellers. Because we can never know the past directly but must construct it by interpreting evidence, exploring history is more of a creative enterprise than it is an objective pursuit. All historians are storytellers."
當(dāng)我們把自己和歷史關(guān)聯(lián)起來(lái)時(shí),我們變成了講故事的人。因?yàn)槲覀儫o(wú)從知道過(guò)去發(fā)生的事情,但是又必須要把她們表述出來(lái),所以歷史研究是一個(gè)非常有創(chuàng)造性的領(lǐng)域,而并非一個(gè)客觀的過(guò)程。所有的歷史學(xué)家都是講故事的人(storyteller)。
3. "The best way to understand the character of a society is to examine the character of the men and women that the society chooses as its heroes or its heroines."
理解一個(gè)社會(huì)特征的最好的方法就是研究那個(gè)社會(huì)所認(rèn)為的偉大人物。
4."The study of history places too much emphasis on individuals. The most significant events and trends in history were made possible not by the famous few, but by groups of people whose identities have long been forgotten."
對(duì)歷史的研究把太多的重點(diǎn)放在對(duì)某些個(gè)人上。而歷史上一些重大的事件和發(fā)展趨勢(shì)不是由個(gè)別名人決定的,而可能是由那些已經(jīng)被人們淡忘的人制造的。
5"Most people would agree that buildings represent a valuable record of any society's past, but controversy arises when old buildings stand on ground that modern planners feel could be better used for modern purposes. In such situations, modern development should be given precedence over the preservation of historic buildings so that contemporary needs can be served."
很多人認(rèn)為建筑代表了一個(gè)社會(huì)過(guò)去的歷史價(jià)值,但是當(dāng)現(xiàn)代城市的規(guī)劃者想要利用老建筑占用的地盤(pán)做新的規(guī)劃時(shí),就會(huì)引起很多爭(zhēng)辯。在這樣的情況下,現(xiàn)代的發(fā)展應(yīng)該優(yōu)先被考慮,以使當(dāng)代的需要得到滿(mǎn)足。
6"History teaches us only one thing: knowing about the past cannot help people to make important decisions today."
7."So much is new and complex today that looking back for an understanding of the past provides little guidance for living in the present."
現(xiàn)在的生活日新月異,對(duì)過(guò)去的研究學(xué)習(xí)沒(méi)有實(shí)際的指導(dǎo)意義。
8."The study of history has value only to the extent that it is relevant to our daily lives."
只有當(dāng)歷史和我們的生活相關(guān)時(shí),對(duì)它的研究才有擴(kuò)展性和價(jià)值。