Quotes by E. P. Thompson
“I am seeking to rescue the poor stockinger, the Luddite cropper, the 'obsolete' hand-loom weaver, the 'utopian' artisan... from the enormous condescension of posterity.”— E. P. Thompson
“What we are trying to do is to recover the history of the people who have been ‘hidden from history’.”— E. P. Thompson
“The working class did not rise like the sun at an appointed time. It was present at its own making.”— E. P. Thompson
“Moralism, Benedictus, is the curse of our times. It is the substitute for politics.”— E. P. Thompson
“The materials of history are not inert. They are resonant with human intentions and meanings.”— E. P. Thompson
“History is not a factory for the production of grand theories, but a workshop for the patient and skilled craftsman.”— E. P. Thompson
“This is a book about the British working class, which I have the cheek to call a 'class="highlight">making'.”— E. P. Thompson