The significance of man is that he is insignificant and is aware of it.
Carl L. BeckerRead
The value of history is, indeed, not scientific but moral: by liberalizing the mind, by deepening the sympathies, by fortifying the will, it enables us to control, not society, but ourselves - a much more important thing; it prepares us to live more humanely in the present and to meet rather than to foretell the future.
Interpretation
History helps us develop morality and self-control, shaping our present and future experiences.
In this quote, Carl L. Becker emphasizes that the true value of history lies not in its scientific aspects, but in its capacity to cultivate moral understanding, empathy, and personal strength. By engaging with history, individuals can learn to better navigate their own lives and interactions, fostering a more humane existence in the present while preparing them to face the uncertainties of the future.
In practice
During a lecture on the importance of empathy, one might quote Becker to emphasize the moral lessons history teaches.
The significance of man is that he is insignificant and is aware of it.
All historical writing, even the most honest, is unconsciously subjective, since every age is bound, in spite of itself, to make the dead perform whatever tricks it finds necessary for its own peace of mind.
Diplomats are just as essential to starting a war as soldiers are for finishing it... You take diplomacy out of war, and the thing would fall flat in a week.
The unpredictable and the predetermined unfold together to make everything the way it is.
Where there is injury let me sow pardon.
A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia.
Consequently, if the republic is the weal of the people, and there is no people if it be not associated by a common acknowledgment of right, and if there is no right where there is no justice, then most certainly it follows that there is no republic where there is no justice.
Swans sing before they die - 'twere no bad thing should certain persons die before they sing.
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