The essential matter of history is not what happened but what people thought or said about it. Frederic William Maitland More Quotes by Frederic William Maitland More Quotes From Frederic William Maitland The hunger and thirst for knowledge, the keen delight in the chase, the good humored willingness to admit that the scent was false, the eager desire to get on with the work, the cheerful resolution to go back and begin again, the broad good sense, the unaffected modesty, the imperturbable temper, the gratitude for any little help that was given - all these will remain in my memory though I cannot paint them for others. Frederic William Maitland gratitude memories knowledge We should always be aware that what now lies in the past once lay in the future. Frederic William Maitland lying history past