5 Historical Quotes That Explain Why I Love History
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People often wonder about my fascination with history. For most people, history is just a collection of events that happened before. But for me, and other history geeks like me, there’s more to it than that. History is not just the past, but rather a story of progress. The following quotes should explain why EiH is here.
The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high point of vantage, from which alone men see the town in which they live or the age in which they are living.
-G.K. Chesterton
To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?
-Cicero
It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.
-Robert Kennedy
What is history? An echo of the past in the future; a reflex from the future on the past.
-Victor Hugo
History is but the record of the public and official acts of human beings. It is our object, therefore, to humanize our history and deal with people past and present; people who ate and possibly drank; people who were born, flourished and died; not grave tragedians, posing perpetually for their photographs.
-Bill Nye
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Many kudos for the Bill Nye quotation. You know it is hard to articulate the fascination with history to someone who is sitting on the outside. It is one of those arcane bits of voodoo that keeps its virtue and value obscured until that sudden aha moment.
I agree with Cicero. I think the reason history keeps repeating itself because people want to go through the experience themselves and expect a different outcome.
It’s just like a child who ends up doing something the parent told him not to do. The child doesn’t realize the parent has experienced the same action and is trying to forewarn him.
And now we are here. Sounds familiar?
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by TamahomeJenkins: Here’s a #quote collection that explains why I love #history http://su.pr/17pALQ...