“History: the lies of the victors, the self-delusions of the defeated.”

“What is history? Any thoughts, Webster?''History is the lies of the victors,' I replied, a little too quickly.'Yes, I was rather afraid you'd say that. Well, as long as you remember that it is also the self-delusions of the defeated. ...'Finn?''"History is that certainty produced at the point where the imperfections of memory meet the inadequacies of documentation." (quoting Patrick Lagrange)”

“History isn't the lies of the victors, as I once glibly assured Old Joe Hunt; I know that now. It's more the memories of the survivors, most of whom are neither victorious or defeated.”

“If history is written by the victorious, what if the victors lied?”

“History is alwys written by victors, and the defeated create a new set of myths to explain the past and gild the future”

“If history teaches anything, it teaches that self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.”