There is nothing more agreeable in life than to make peace with the establishment and nothing more corrupting.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
He was what I often think is a dangerous thing for a statesman to be - a student of history; and like most of those who study history, he learned from the mistakes of the past how to make new ones.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that studying history can lead to dangerous misunderstandings, as one may replicate past mistakes rather than learning from them.
A. J. P. Taylor's quote indicates that while it is valuable for a statesman to understand history, there is a risk that instead of gaining wisdom from historical events, they may repeat the errors of the past. This reflection on the paradox of historical study highlights the importance of critical thinking when applying lessons from history to contemporary issues.
Themes
HistoryStatesmanMistakesLearningWisdom
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a lecture on the importance of understanding history in political decision-making.
More from A. J. P. Taylor
All quotes →The male clerk with his quill pen and copper-plate handwriting had gone for good. The female short-hand typist took his place. It was a decisive moment in women's emancipation.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
In 1917 European history, in the old sense, came to an end. World history began. It was the year of Lenin and Woodrow Wilson, both of whom repudiated the traditional standards of political behaviour. Both preached Utopia, Heaven on Earth. It was the moment of birth for our contemporary world.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
Though the object of being a Great Power is to be able to fight a Great War, the only way of remaining a Great Power is not to fight one.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
If there had been no troublemakers, no Dissenters, we should still be living in caves.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
Bismarck fought 'necessary' wars and killed thousands, the idealists of the twentieth century fight 'just' wars and kill millions.
A. J. P. TaylorRead
Similar quotes
This wicked man Hitler, the repository and embodiment of many forms of soul-destroying hatred. this monstrous product of former wrongs and shame.
Winston ChurchillRead
Black history is a series of missing chapters from British history. I'm trying to put those bits back in.
David OlusogaRead
No city in the world, not even Athens or Rome, ever played as great a role in the life of a nation for so long a time, as Jerusalem has done in the life of the Jewish people.
David Ben-GurionRead
Also, what mountains of dead ashes, wreck and burnt bones, does assiduous pedantry dig up from the past time and name it History.
Thomas CarlyleRead
People want to know why the South is so interested in the Civil War. I had maybe, it's a rough guess, about fifty fistfights in my life. Out of those fifty fistfights, the ones that I had the most vivid memory of were the ones I lost. I think that's one reason why the South remembers the war more than the North does.
Shelby FooteRead
Good history is a question of survival. Without any past, we will deprive ourselves of the defining impression of our being.
Ken BurnsRead