![[Header#^header-embed]] ## Epigraph A la vérité ce n'est ici qu'un fragment, mais dans les travaux les plus achevés des hommes il n'y a que des fragments. L'histoire d'un roi n'est qu'un fragment de celle de sa dynastie, celle de sa dynastie de celle de fon royaume, celle de fon royaume de celle du genre humain; qui n'est elle même qu'un fragment de celle des êtres qui habitent le globe, dont l'histoire universelle ne serait après tout qu'un bien petit chapitre de l'histoire des astres innombrables qui roulent sur nos têtes à des distances on ne peut assigner. > [!INFO] > [[Hester Thrale née Salusbury|Hester's]] epigraph in French is from the French philosopher Voltaire's essay "Traité sur la tolérance" (Treatise on Tolerance). In this passage, Voltaire is arguing that all human knowledge is limited. He points out that even the most complete works of history are only fragments of the whole story. The history of a king is only a fragment of the history of his dynasty, which is only a fragment of the history of his kingdom, and so on. > > Voltaire's point is that we can never know everything about the world. There is always more to learn. This is a humbling thought, but it is also a liberating one. It means we should never be afraid to ask questions or challenge the status quo. > > The translation is: > > > In truth, this is only a fragment here, but in the most accomplished works of men there are only fragments. The history of a king is only a fragment of that of his dynasty, that of his dynasty of that of his kingdom, that of his kingdom of that of the human race; which is itself only a fragment of that of the beings that inhabit the globe, whose universal history would be after all only a very small chapter in the history of the innumerable stars that roll over our heads at distances that cannot be assigned. | | |:------------------------:| | [[Retrospection\|Introduction]] <br> Epigraph •. [[Retrospection preface\|Preface]] | ![[Attribution - Retrospection#^attribution-retrospection]] ## See also ![[hester-lynch-thrale-1741-1821🔎#^hester-lynch-thrale-infoblock]]![[Books 🔎#^books-infoblock]] #history/person/SALUSBURY/hester-lynch-born-1741 #history/book ![[Footer#^footer-embed]]