Concepts are tools, not truths; we should ask what work they... - Quentin Skinner

"Concepts are tools, not truths; we should ask what work they do in the world, not what essence they express."

Quentin Skinner Knowledge

Historian Philosopher British Born 1940 (age 86)

More from Quentin Skinner

"The past is not dead; it is not even past."

"Ideas have consequences, and the historian's task is to trace them."

"We must understand the languages in which the past speaks to us."

"The study of history is the study of human possibility."

"We're not just after treasure. We're preserving history."

"The mind is humanity's greatest tool."

"A tidy room reflects a tidy mind."

"You can learn a lot about a person by how they keep their space."