Men do not learn much from the lessons of history, and that is the most important of all the lessons of history."
- Aldous Huxley
What do you think Huxley meant to say with this quote?
16 Comments
Marissa Lemon
3/12/2013 10:01:00 am
I think this quote means that we need to be able to to learn from our mistakes and from our achievements. I think also that we should be able to learn from others mistakes and achievements. Kinda like taking some good advice from someone who has already experienced it(:
Tanabe
3/12/2013 11:31:23 am
Marissa, 3/12/2013 10:08:13 am
I think he means that mankind likes to repeat itself and although sometimes were smart and learn from the mistakes of other people in the past. Many people do not think of it in advance, war is one of the greatest examples of people not learning from the past. When Nepolean sent his men into Russia but they died and had to retreat because they got caught in the Russian winter. Hitler did the same thing many years later when trying to invade Russia. If people paid attention more and learned from others mistakes they would not fail, of course it was a good thing that Hitler wasn't smart enough to see that coming.
Tanabe
3/12/2013 11:35:55 am
Hi Claire,
Kassie Fuller
3/12/2013 03:38:00 pm
I think he's saying that looking at history is a fundamental piece in not making the same mistakes over and over again. I also think he could be saying that we don't always look at the broader picture. We miss out on very important things we should know because we are looking too closely. I think this because he's saying that we're missing the biggest lesson, which is the lesson about learning our lesson.
Tanabe
3/12/2013 04:16:11 pm
Pretty sharp, Fuller. There's this ancient Chinese Taoist book called the Dao De Jing all about living in tune with nature and with all things, and it reads kind of like a self-assessment on how to read its own text. That's what this quote reminds me of, in a way...like you said, it's the lesson on learning the lesson. Pretty cool.
Bethany Mendoza
3/13/2013 03:18:45 pm
I think that this comment means how ignorant people can be when it comes to just repeating the past. This whole concept of not learning from the past so we don't do it again in the future has definitely gone astray. It is shown easily by the music industry and how in certain genres it is all the same, and even in some cases they just redo a song and put their own "creative twist" (which is usually just dubbing over with some lame electronic hook) and call it good. Especially when the artist isn't any good in the first place but instead of looking at their ratings and changing it up, they just keep going for it hoping that something won't end up not terrible. The definition of insanity is repeating the same task over and over again, expecting different results. With that being said, I also think this quote means how the biggest lesson of all can be learning the lesson in the first place. If we don't accept the past and use it as a tool to have a better future, we'll probably all end up insane.
Tanabe
3/14/2013 03:27:29 am
Bethany,
Rayne McCoy
3/14/2013 11:24:14 am
To me, this is saying basicly that comparing the past and now, men havent really changed in the way they do and say things. They have inherited the behaviors of men from long ago and are the same as they will always be, now and in the future. Men are men.
Tanabe
3/21/2013 01:50:32 am
Hi Rayne,
Rayne McCoy
3/21/2013 10:22:32 am
I feel that in the past, you always see movies where guys have multiple 'lovers' and such. And its like now where most guys cant stay committed. In the past they said things to woman that werent thankful and were unparallel. Theres maybe a few guys you will find that are actually truthful and arent like every other guy. I was lucky enough to find one of the few guys like that, thats not a selfish guy. Basicly by comparing a guy from long ago to one of your average guys of today, they are almost exactly alike.
Kim Bermudez
4/8/2013 08:28:59 pm
To me it basically means that people tend to make the same mistakes over and over again. Some people learn from their mistakes and others don't. Others like to push the boundaries until they finally get punished for doing so.. Plain and simple.
Sandy Childress
5/26/2013 02:50:15 pm
History tends to repeat itself because people ignore the lessons of the past. If we can remember this fact it can help us be aware to reflect on our own mistakes.
Rachelle Austin
5/27/2013 06:42:23 am
This quote is a warning that so many wise minds like Aldous Huxley have tried to tell humanity over and over again. Both at the individual level and the race of humans as a whole continue to fail to learn from the mistakes and the tragedies of the past. How many wars will it take for humans to learn that killing each other doesn't solve any problems? I just hope that someday enough people will realize that we can look back on our history and improve our future from what we learn.
Nick Wolfert
5/29/2013 12:24:54 pm
All throughout history people have made the same mistakes over and over, despite it failing in the past. Take slavery as an example. The Israelite were enslaved, and eventually they were set free with major damage to the Egyptians, and even our great country made the mistake of having slaves. The cost of this is having a shameful past, and extremely prejudice and hateful society. Thankfully we have mostly gotten over it, but it could have been completely avoided had our ancestors just paid attention to history.
Alyx Peterson
6/12/2013 06:01:47 am
I think its implying people dont take time to realize how the past has influenced them and makes them who they are today. Whether it be in history or personally. Every one has a past, some people just choose to ignore it. But in fact history is important to every one, some just dont realize it. Leave a Reply. | Hold Up!Dear students - ArchivesJune 2013 Categories |
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