Forgetfulness, and I would even say historical error, are essential in the creation of a nation.
Interpretation
Forgetfulness and historical errors play a crucial role in the formation of national identity.
Ernest Renan suggests that the process of nation-building is not just about remembering the past, but also involves a deliberate act of forgetting certain historical events and errors. This selective memory allows people to unite under a common identity, facilitating the creation of a cohesive national narrative that promotes solidarity and shared values, even if it means glossing over some uncomfortable truths or missteps in history.
In practice
In a discussion about national identity, one might reference Renan's thoughts on forgetfulness.
None of the miracles with which ancient histories are filled, occurred under scientific conditions. Observation never once contradicted, teaches us that miracles occur only in periods and countries in which they are believed in and before persons disposed to believe in them.
Man makes holy what he believes as he makes beautiful what he loves.
When people complain of life, it is almost always because they have asked impossible things of it.
He whom God has touched will always be a being apart: he is, whatever he may do, a stranger among men; he is marked by a sign.
Let us remember that sorrow alone is the creator of great things.
The talent of historians lies in their creating a true ensemble out of facts which are but half true.
Grief, of course, is not something that operates according to a specific time frame, and it seems cold to suggest otherwise. Yet when we do not grasp that God is present in pain, we eventually insist on victory or, worse, blame the sufferer for not "getting over it" fast enough. This is more than a failure to extend compassion; it's an exercise in cruelty.
If the newspapers of a country are filled with good news, the jails of that country will be filled with good people.
To deal with the true causes of war one must begin by recognizing as of prime relevancy to the solution of the problem the familiar fact that civilization is a partial, incomplete, and, to a great extent, superficial modification of barbarism.
From the perspective of mere representation, the external world always remains only a phenomenon.
Ask yourselves this question: How often is Jesus inside and knocking at the door to be let out, to come out? And we do not let him out because of our own need for security, because so often we are locked into ephemeral structures that serve solely to make us slaves and not free children of God.
You will not dishonor the divine perfections by judgments unworthy of them, provided you never judge of Him by yourself, provided you do not ascribe to the Creator the imperfections and limitations of created beings.
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