E. P. Thompson

“I am seeking to rescue the poor stockinger, the Luddite cropper, the 'obsolete' hand-loom weaver, the 'utopian' artisan... from the enormous condescension of posterity.”

“The working class did not rise like the sun at an appointed time. It was present at its own making.”

“Moralism, Benedictus, is the curse of our times. It is the substitute for politics.”

“Cause is not a 'thing'. It is a relationship.”

“What we are trying to do is to recover the history of the people who have been ‘hidden from history’.”

“Class is a relationship, and not a thing.”

“This is a book about the British working class, which I have the cheek to call a 'class="highlight">making'.”

“My own bias is that of a socialist. I do not see why it should be concealed.”

“History is not a factory for the production of grand theories, but a workshop for the patient and skilled craftsman.”

“We must somehow combine the passion of the scientist with the passion of the moralist.”

“The materials of history are not inert. They are resonant with human intentions and meanings.”

“The ruling class did not require a calculating machine to tell them that their interests were threatened.”