Paul Ricoeur on testimony

“Testimony signifies something other than a simple narrative of things seen. Testimony is that on which we rely to think…to estimate…in short, to judge. Testimony wants to justify and prove the good basis of an assertion which, beyond the fact, claims to attain its meaning…The eyewitness character of testimony never suffices to constitute its meaning. It is necessary that there be not only a statement but an account of a fact serving to prove an opinion or truth.”