Learning from the past

Explore 16 quotes about Learning from the past

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

George Santayana

The Life of Reason

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Topic

Learning from the past History The past

Author

George Santayana

Source

The Life of Reason

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1905 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Santayana, George. The Life of Reason: Introduction and Reason in Common Sense, edited by Marianne S. Wokeck and Martin A. Coleman. Vol. 7, The MIT Press, 2011, bk. 1, ch. 12. Originally published by Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.

Aldous Huxley

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Topic

Learning from the past History repeating itself History Human nature

Author

Aldous Huxley

Source

A Case of Voluntary Ignorance Esquire

Medium

Essay Magazine

Language

English

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Huxley, Aldous. "A Case of Voluntary Ignorance." Collected Essays. Harper & Brothers, 1959. Originally published Esquire, 1 Oct. 1956.

At every step the natural light which illuminates their path grows dimmer and less secure; and that, in spite of all their efforts, they have as yet only discovered a small number of conflicting notions, on which the mind of man has been tossed about for thousands of years, without either laying a firmer grasp on truth, or finding novelty even in its errors.

Alexis de Tocqueville

Democracy in America

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Topic

Learning from the past Ignorance of history History The past Ignorance

Author

Alexis de Tocqueville

Source

Democracy in America

Genre

Political literature

Language

French

Time

1840 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. De La Democratie en Amerique [Democracy in America]. Vol. 2, London: Saunders and Otley, 1840, sect. 1, ch. 5.

Current Citation

Tocqueville, Alexis De. Democracy in America: The Complete and Unabridged Volumes I and II, translated by Henry Reeve. Bantam Classics, 2000, vol. 2, sect. 1, ch. 5.

Experience is the oracle of truth; and where its responses are unequivocal, they ought to be conclusive and sacred.

James Madison

Federalist 20

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Topic

Learning from the past Political theory Politics

Author

James Madison

Source

Federalist 20 The Federalist Papers

Medium

Essay

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1787 1780s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hamilton, Alexander and James Madison [published as Publius]. "Federalist No. 20: The Same Subject Continued: The Insufficiency of the Present Confederation to Preserve the Union." New York Packet, 11 Dec. 1787.

Current Citation

Hamilton, Alexander and James Madison. "No. 20: Conclusion: such confederations wrong in theory, violent in practice.--Madison (and Hamilton). The Federalist: A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States, edited by Robert Scigliano. The Modern Library, 2001.

People will not look forward to posterity, who never look backward to their ancestors.

Edmund Burke

Reflections on the Revolution in France

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Topic

Learning from the past Ignorance of history History

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1790 1790s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France. London: James Dodsley, 1790.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Reflections on the Revolution in France." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging of the future but by the past.

Patrick Henry

Speech at the Second Virginia Convention

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Topic

Learning from the past

Author

Patrick Henry

Source

Speech at the Second Virginia Convention

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1775 1770s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Henry, Patrick. "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death!" Second Virginia Convention. 23 Mar. 1775, St. John's Church, Richmond, VA, USA. Speech.

What experience and history teach is this-that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it.

G.W.F. Hegel

Read Lectures on the Philosophy of History at marxists.org

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Topic

Learning from the past History

Author

G.W.F. Hegel

Source

Lectures on the Philosophy of Wold History: Introduction

Medium

Lecture

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

German

Time

1830 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Hegel, G. W. F. Vorlesungen über die Philosophie der Weltgeschichte [Lectures on the Philosophy of World History]. c. 1830, University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Current Citation

Hegel, G. W. F. Lectures on the Philosophy of World History, translated by H. B. Nisbet. Cambridge University Press, 1981.

By despising all that has preceded us, we teach others to despise ourselves.

William Hazlitt

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Topic

Learning from the past Judging the past The past

Author

William Hazlitt

Source

On Reading New Books

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1827 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Hazlitt, William. "On Reading New Books." Monthly Magazine, July 1827.

Current Citation

Hazlitt, William. "On Reading New Books." The Selected Writings of William Hazlitt. Vol. 9, Routledge, 2020.

Neither the truth nor the character of history depend, in any way, upon its having some lesson to teach us. And if ever we persuade ourselves that the past has taught us something, we may be certain that it is not the historical past which has been our teacher.

Michael Oakeshott

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Topic

Learning from the past

Author

Michael Oakeshott

Source

Experience and Its Modes

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

English

Time

1933 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Oakeshott, Michael. Experience and Its Modes. Cambridge University Press, 1933, ch. 3, sect. 4.

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.

Abba Eban

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Topic

Learning from the past History Human nature

Speaker

Abba Eban

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1970 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Eban, Abba. Speech in London. 16 Dec. 1970, London, England, UK.

The diversity of human events offers us infinite examples in all sorts of forms.

Michel de Montaigne

Essays

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Topic

Learning from the past

Author

Michel de Montaigne

Source

Of Presumption Essays

Medium

Essay

Language

French

Time

1580 1580s 16th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "De La Praesumption [Of Presumption]." Essais [Essays]. Paris: Simon Millanges and Jean Richer, 1580.

Current Citation

De Montaigne, Michel. "On Presumption." The Complete Essays, edited and translated by M. A. Screech. Penguin Classics, 1993.

From the experience of the past we derive instructive lessons for the future.

John Quincy Adams

Inaugural Address of John Quincy Adams

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Topic

Learning from the past

Speaker

John Quincy Adams

Source

Inaugural Address of John Quincy Adams Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1825 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Adams, John Quincy. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1825, House Chamber, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

It is necessary to keep the former experiences of our country both at home and abroad continually before us, if we are to have any science of government. If we wish to erect new structures, we must have a definite knowledge of the old foundations. We must realize that human nature is about the most constant thing in the universe and that the essentials of human relationship do not change. We must frequently take our bearings from these fixed stars of our political firmament if we expect to hold a true course. If we examine carefully what we have done, we can determine the more accurately what we can do.

Calvin Coolidge

Second Inaugural Address of Calvin Coolidge

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Topic

Wisdom of the past Learning from the past Immutability of human nature Human nature

Speaker

Calvin Coolidge

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Calvin Coolidge Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1925 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Coolidge, Calvin. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1925, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

If history records good things of good men, the thoughtful hearer is encouraged to imitate what is good.

Venerable Bede

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Topic

Learning from the past The past History

Author

Venerable Bede

Source

Ecclesiastical History of the English People

Genre

Historical literature

Language

Latin

Time

731 730s 8th century

Era

Middle Ages

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Bede. Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum [Ecclesiastical History of the English People]. c. 731, preface.

Current Citation

Bede. "Ecclesiastical History of the English People." The Ecclesiastical History of the English People; The Greater Chronicle; Bede's Letter to Egbert, edited by Judith McClure and Roger Collins. Oxford University Press, 2009, preface.

It would be nice to forget history, but we do it at our peril.

Lucille Clifton

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Topic

Learning from the past History

Speaker

Lucille Clifton

Source

Mosaic Magazine

Medium

Interview Magazine

Language

English

Time

2007 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Clifton, Lucille. "The Healing World of Lucille Clifton." Interviewed by Jacqueline Jones Lamon. Mosaic Magazine, 28 Aug. 2012.

O you who hear within these scattered verses
The sound of sighs with which I fed my heart
In my first errant youthful days when I
In part was not the man I am today.

Petrarch

More information about this quote

Topic

Learning from the past Looking back

Author

Petrarch

Medium

Poem

Language

Italian

Time

1352 1350s 14th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Petrarch. Rerum vulgarium fragmenta. c. 1352.

Current Citation

Petrarch. "Selections from the Canzoniere." Selections from the Canzoniere and Other Works. Oxford University Press, 1999.