History is the essence of innumerable Biographies.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian

Essay (1830-11), “On History,” Fraser’s Magazine Vol. 2, No. 10.
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Collected as "History," Critical and Miscellaneous Essays (1827-1855).

A year and a half later, in his essay "Biography" (first published in Fraser's Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 28 (1832-05)), as he was wont to do, Carlyle anonymously quoted himself ("'History,' it has been said, 'is the essence of innumerable Biographies.'").