The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks.
Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for the river.
It's one thing to be given a topic, but you have to find the idea or the concept within that topic. Once you find the idea or thread, all the other anecdotes, illustrations and quotes are pearls that hang on this thread. The thread may seem very humble, the pearls may seem very flashy, but it's still the thread that makes the necklace.