Saturday, April 22, 2006

Wilde Words, Wide Worlds

"Any fool can make history; it takes a genius to write history."

So said Oscar Wilde, one who was both mad and bad, according to many writers of history. I was reading through a catalogue of new Folio editions of Thucydides and Herodotus when I saw that quote. It occurs to me that what is really important is that an historian frames whole worlds with his pen, and so should a teacher of history.