Are you getting sick of my quotes yet?

It has been said that although God cannot alter the past, historians can. It is perhaps because they can be useful to him in this respect that he tolerates their existence. (Samuel Butler)

This is one of my favourite history quotes. My boss uses it all the time in her talks. Sometimes I think the reason I became an historian is that I just love a good argument!

( why I do what I do )

Historical knowledge is not a variety of knowledge, but it is knowledge itself; it is the form which completely fills and exhausts the field of knowing. (Benedetto Croce)

History: An account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools. (Ambrose Bierce)

These were sent to me as an e-mail a while ago and they still make me laugh. Apparently they are real test answers written by sixth graders.
( watch the spelling )

If you had to condense the history of 20th century immigration in Australia to 3 or 4 paragraphs, with a theme per paragraph, what would your themes be? Remember this period covers two world wars, the cold war, a period of massive migration associated with these events, the initial welcoming of boat people in the ‘70s through to recent detention ( Read more... )

Yesterday I went for a drive and interviewed a lovely woman about her time as a president for her local branch of the Good Neighbour Council. [In the 1950s the Australian Government funded the GNC to welcome and support new migrants. It was an era when assimilation was the main government policy, and historians have various opinions on the success ( Read more... )