Quote by E. J. Hobsbawm

Historians are to nationalism what poppy-growers in Pakistan are to heroin-addicts: we supply the essential raw material for the market.

Historians are to nationalism what poppy-growers in Pakistan

Summary

This quote suggests that historians play a key role in the construction of national identity and pride. Similar to how poppy-growers in Pakistan provide the fundamental ingredient for producing heroin, historians provide the necessary historical narratives and accounts that fuel nationalist sentiments. It implies that historians, knowingly or unknowingly, contribute to the development and sustenance of nationalism by offering the raw material in the form of historical narratives that shape collective consciousness and strengthen nationalistic values.

Topics

Nationalism Nation Nationality

By E. J. Hobsbawm

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

The very first lesson that I learnt from the Qur'an was the

The very first lesson that I learnt from the Qur'an was the message of unity and peace.

Peace

Europe is so well gardened that it resembles a work of art,

Europe is so well gardened that it resembles a work of art, a scientific theory, a neat metaphysical system. Man has re-created Europe in his own image.

Art

It should be mandatory that you understand computer science.

It should be mandatory that you understand computer science.

Science

He who does not accept and respect those who want to reject

He who does not accept and respect those who want to reject life does not truly accept and respect life itself.

Suicide

Everyone enjoys doing the kind of work for which he is best

Everyone enjoys doing the kind of work for which he is best suited.

Best Work

He looked like a fallen angel, replete with all the dangerou

He looked like a fallen angel, replete with all the dangerous male beauty that Lucifer could devise.

Beauty Lucifer Male

Thoughts are the gun, words are the bullets, deeds are the t

Thoughts are the gun, words are the bullets, deeds are the target, the bulls-eye is heaven.

Thought

One thing I've very quickly learned is that if you wake up e

One thing I've very quickly learned is that if you wake up every morning worrying about what's in the press, you would go completely and utterly potty.

Morning

We should be the pro-legal immigration party. A party that h

We should be the pro-legal immigration party. A party that has a positive platform and agenda on how we can create a legal immigration system that works for immigrants and works for America.

Legal

My husband Rhashan reminds me of my father because he's got

My husband Rhashan reminds me of my father because he's got great strength of character.

Olivia Williams

Strength

But as far as being an American and loving this country and

But as far as being an American and loving this country and getting a chance to travel across it every day and meeting people on the road and folks in the military, I love this country on so many different levels.

Travel

There is a sacred horror about everything grand. It is easy

There is a sacred horror about everything grand. It is easy to admire mediocrity and hills; but whatever is too lofty, a genius as well as a mountain, an assembly as well as a masterpiece, seen too near, is appalling. Every summit seems an exaggeration. Climbing wearies. The steepnesses take away one's breath; we slip on the slopes, we are hurt by the sharp points which are its beauty; the foaming torrents betray the precipices, clouds hide the mountain tops; mounting is full of terror, as well as a fall. Hence, there is more dismay than admiration. People have a strange feeling of aversion to anything grand. They see abysses, they do not see sublimity; they see the monster, they do not see the prodigy.

Hatred Prodigy