History and Chronicle

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"La verità è, che cronaca e storia non sono distinguibili come due forme di storia, che si compiano a vicenda o che siano l'una subordinata all'altra, ma come due diversi atteggiamenti spirituale. La storia è la storia viva, la cronaca la storia morta; la storia, la storia contemporanea, e la cronaca, la storia passata..." -- Benedetto Croce, Teoria e storia della storiografia, p. 21

"The truth is, that chronicle and history are not distinguishable as two forms of history, that complete each other or are one subordinate to the other, but as two different spiritual attitudes. History is living history, chronicle dead history; history, contemporary history, and chronicle, past history."

Clearly this is from where Collingwood drew his central understanding of history. And Oakeshott differs starkly from both Croce and Collingwood on this point.


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