John W. O'Malley
John W. O'Malley (June 11, 1927 – September 11, 2022) was an American academic, Catholic historian, and Jesuit priest.
Quotes
[edit]Interview (2020)
[edit]- “So What?”: A Conversation with John W. O’Malley (07 Jan 2020)
- Historians should always look at continuities and fractures: as I see it, the continuities are always deeper and more profound than any discontinuities.
- Historical events do not fall out of the heavens. They have a pre-history. To understand them, it is essential to understand the pre-history.
- I revise a lot my work and read out loud, and often say: “It doesn’t work”; “It’s so boring!” I often realize that I could say something more clearly, more simply, and get rid of many qualifications. I believe that you do not really have a clear thought until you have the right word. The thought is developed in the act of writing: sometimes you are writing a sentence, and you realize that, deep down, you do not really know what you want to say. You revise, and at a certain point you say: “This is really what I think, what I want to say!”
- ...the cultural mission of the Jesuits—what really makes the Jesuits distinctive...
