Reinterpreting History Quotes & Sayings

Each of us is born with a series of built-in confusions that are probably somehow Darwinian. These are: (1) we're central to the universe (that is, our personal story is the main and most interesting story, the only story, really); (2) we're separate from the universe (there's US and then, out there, all that other junk - dogs and swing-sets, and the State of Nebraska and low-hanging clouds and, you know, other people), and (3) we're permanent (death is real, o.k., sure - for you, but not for me). — George Saunders

We feel bound to be punctual and conscientious with those we are indifferent about; while we can afford at any time, on the frostiest night, to be an hour after our appointment with the single gentleman who occupies an apartment in our heart's core. — Samuel Laman Blanchard

For a season, a gifted speaker can inspire with his words, but for a lifetime John McCain has inspired with his deeds. — Sarah Palin

I'm not usually sold on epiphanies. I am more interested in the opposite experience: not those rare moments of startling insight or realization, but-what I suspect are more common-those sudden flashes of anxious confusion and bewilderment. — Robert Atwan

I want to be untouchable and beautiful and completely dead inside. — Francesca Lia Block

While we do have 50 years of terrific Avengers stories, many of which our writing staff has written, along the way, this has to live in its own world. — Jeph Loeb

Historians constantly rewrite history, reinterpreting (reorganizing) the records of the past. So, too, when the brain's coherent responses become part of a memory, they are organized anew as part of the structure of consciousness. What makes them memories is that they become part of that structure and thus form part of the sense of self; my sense of self derives from a certainty that my experiences refer back to me, the individual who is having them. Hence the sense of the past, of history, of memory, is in part the creation of the self. — Israel Rosenfield

In our sport you're very lucky to find a horse of a lifetime and I found mine relatively early. He's done everything for me and I owe him the world. — Zara Phillips