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Robert Darnton Quotes

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About Robert Darnton

Robert Darnton is an eminent American historian, scholar, and literary critic, born on August 8, 1932, in New York City. Growing up in a family with deep intellectual roots – his father was a lawyer and his mother a writer – Darnton developed an early interest in literature and history. He attended Harvard University where he majored in French literature, later earning a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, UK. His academic career took him to institutions such as Princeton University, the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris, and finally Harvard University, where he has been the Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor since 1998. Throughout his illustrious career, Darnton's work has been significantly influenced by French history, literature, and culture, which led him to become a renowned expert in the field of cultural history. Some of Darnton's most notable works include "The Great Cat Massacre" (1984), an exploration of popular culture in eighteenth-century Paris; "Museum of Courts: The French Political Imaginary in the Old Regime" (2016); and "A History of Reading in the Age of Louis XIV" (1982). In these works, he delves into the societal, political, and cultural aspects of France during significant historical periods. Darnton is also celebrated for his pioneering work in digital humanities. He co-founded HARVARD's Digitization Program, which aims to digitize books and other materials from Harvard's libraries and make them accessible online. His dedication to the digital revolution in academia has earned him widespread acclaim within the scholarly community. In addition to his extensive academic achievements, Darnton is a prolific essayist and editor, having edited the "New York Review of Books" from 1992 to 2003. Throughout his career, he has been awarded numerous prestigious prizes, including the National Book Critics Circle Award, the MLA Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for a lifetime of distinguished scholarship, and the Holberg Prize, among others.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism."

This quote by Robert Darnton highlights that all records or artifacts of a civilization, whether they are literary works, historical accounts, or cultural artifacts, reflect both its enlightened aspects as well as its darker, often oppressive and barbaric ones. It underscores the inherent complexities and contradictions found in any society, where the pursuit of knowledge, creativity, and civilization coexist with ignorance, violence, and brutality.

"For every work that is lost, there's a hole in the history of literature."

This quote emphasizes the importance of preserving and documenting all works of literature. Every piece that disappears leaves an empty space or gap in our understanding of historical literary context, potentially causing us to miss out on valuable insights and perspectives from the past. The loss of these works can weaken our comprehension of various periods, cultures, and ideas, making it challenging to accurately recount history. Therefore, efforts should be made to preserve literature to ensure a complete narrative of human thought, expression, and evolution over time.

"Reading was a subversive activity, for it implied an ability to think for oneself."

This quote highlights that reading isn't just about acquiring information, but it empowers individuals to develop independent thought, creativity, and self-awareness. In historical contexts where censorship was common, or in societies where conformity is enforced, the act of reading becomes a form of subversion because it allows for personal intellectual freedom and critical thinking. This quote serves as a testament to the transformative power of literature and knowledge, emphasizing their role in fostering individualism, self-reflection, and societal change.

"The history of books is not only the history of printing; it is also the history of censorship."

This quote highlights the inseparable relationship between the evolution of printed literature and censorship throughout history. It suggests that understanding the rise and development of published books should consider both the progression of printing technology and the efforts to suppress or control information, including censorship, book bans, and other forms of ideological control. In essence, Darnton is emphasizing that the freedom to read and write has often been contested, making the study of books' history a rich exploration of power dynamics, ideology, and human rights issues.

"To read a book is to experience a personal invasion by the author."

This quote by Robert Darnton emphasizes that reading a book is not just an act of receiving information, but rather an intimate exchange between the reader and the author. When we engage with a written work, we allow the author to enter our minds, share their thoughts, emotions, and ideas, thereby invading our personal space in a unique and significant way. This 'invasion' enriches our understanding and shapes our perspectives in profound and often unforeseen ways.

Thanks to modern technology, we now can deliver every text in every research library to every citizen in our country, and to everyone in the world. If we fail to do so, we are not living up to our civic duty.

- Robert Darnton

Living, Country, Citizen, Thanks

The fact that I spend a lot of time in the 18th century doesn't mean I'm not concerned with the 21st.

- Robert Darnton

Fact, Concerned, Lot, 18th Century

I believe we should celebrate new possibilities of combining the printed codex with electronic technology... The information ecology is getting richer, not thinner.

- Robert Darnton

New, Possibilities, Thinner, Richer

I would not minimize the digital divide, which separates the computerized world from the rest, nor would I underestimate the importance of traditional books.

- Robert Darnton

Digital, Minimize, Which, Computerized

All of us are citizens in a republic much larger than the Republic of America. It is the Republic of Letters, a realm of the mind that extends everywhere, without police, national boundaries, or disciplinary frontiers.

- Robert Darnton

Mind, Larger, Frontiers, Letters

I want to continue to strengthen Harvard's fabulous collections in old printed material, but at the same time, I want to help Harvard move into the world of digitized information.

- Robert Darnton

Want, Old, Move, Collections

As a graduate student at Oxford in 1963, I began writing about books in revolutionary France, helping to found the discipline of book history. I was in my academic corner writing about Enlightenment ideals when the Internet exploded the world of academic communication in the 1990s.

- Robert Darnton

Book, Enlightenment, Student, 1990s

While confronting the problems of the present, I often find myself thinking back to the world of books as it was experienced by the Founding Fathers and the philosophers of the Enlightenment.

- Robert Darnton

Founding Fathers, Fathers, Philosophers

We are living in one of those rare moments in history when things may come apart and be put back together again in ways that will determine the future for decades or more, despite the endless innovations of technology.

- Robert Darnton

Back, Endless, Put, Decades

The American revolutionaries believed in the power of the word. But they had only word of mouth and the printing press. We have the Internet.

- Robert Darnton

Mouth, Only, Printing Press, Printing

As president of the American Historical Association, I started a programme to make dissertations into e-books in 1999. Before I knew it, I was involved in other electronic projects. Harvard invited me to become director of the libraries in 2007.

- Robert Darnton

Other, Before, Projects, Electronic

My work has taken me from historical research to involvement in electronic publishing ventures to the directorship of the Harvard University Libraries.

- Robert Darnton

Work, University, Libraries, Electronic

When you tell people you're in history, they give you this pained expression because that was the course they hated in high school. But history can be exciting, intellectually rigorous, and fun.

- Robert Darnton

Give, Tell, Expression, Rigorous

I arrived from Harvard, where I had studied philosophy and the history of ideas, with a bias toward literature and formal thought.

- Robert Darnton

Thought, Had, Studied, Harvard

I was very fortunate to be elected to the Society of Fellows at Harvard, which is, in effect, a small research center where you are given three years to do whatever work you want.

- Robert Darnton

Small, Very, Which, Harvard

It's important to make clear to all the schools at Harvard the central role of the library.

- Robert Darnton

Important, Role, Central, Harvard

We need librarians who can handle this tremendous jumble of information that is in cyberspace.

- Robert Darnton

Information, Handle, Need, Cyberspace

Texts are always in flux.

- Robert Darnton

Always, Texts, Flux

People sometimes announce that we have entered 'the information age' as if information did not exist in other times. I think that every age was an age of information, each in its own way and according to the available media.

- Robert Darnton

Think, Information Age, Announce

Digital data are more fragile than printed material.

- Robert Darnton

Data, Digital, Material, Printed

I worked for a brief spell as a journalist, but soon I discovered that I didn't want to be a journalist - I wanted to be a historian.

- Robert Darnton

Journalist, Brief, Worked, Spell

The notion of 'history from below' hit the history profession in England very hard around the time I came to Oxford in the early 1960s.

- Robert Darnton

England, Profession, Very, Oxford

People think that when you use Google you're finding exactly what you need, but really, you need expert help.

- Robert Darnton

Think, Expert, Need, Exactly What

The idea of a national digital library has been in the air for a long time, and there was a danger that some people would feel that it's their property, so to speak.

- Robert Darnton

Digital, Some, Been, Library

It simply is not true that everything is now on the Internet, but it is true that the digital resources available through the Internet have enormous potential for education and even for self-empowerment of individuals.

- Robert Darnton

Education, Digital, Through, Individuals

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