To be ignorant of the past is to remain a child

"To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born," Cicero declared, "is
to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is
woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?"
I am one of those people who believe that today's world's greatest need and
thirst is for history. For history, wheter of family or nation, is the story of
identity, the construction of which is the most primitive, deep-seated urge
that there is. If you cannot articulate where you come from or what you
believe in and are given few intellectual or emotional tools with which to do
so, you are fated to become the most unstable combustible human material
of all.
But let me ask you a question: what does exactly history mean? There is
ambiguity in the very name. History can either mean past events or writings
about past events. But what if the former is a creation of the latter? The past,
after all, has ceased to exist. It is here in the present that we find documents
and other objects which we suppose have survived from the past and we
weave interpretations around them. These objects and our interpretations
belong to the present. For example, a few years ago a great scandal arose
between two historians: the right-wing historian David Irving said that the
Holocaust was not as bad as has been claimed and he had sued American
historian Deborah Lipstadt for calling him "a dangerous spokesman for
Holocaust denial." The case, and its explosive content, reminds us that
history does in fact matter, but If history has different narratives constructed
in the present, is it any wonder that historians disagree among themselves?
After all, there are as many truths as people to tell them.

What, then, is history? Is it an art that creates, or a science that discovers?

Either way, is there- can there besuch a thing as historical truth? And if so,
to what extent can it be known?
You should remember that, alrhough the present indeed derives from the
past but its course remains ever fluid, non-linear, pliable yet unpredictable.
However, it's not entirely a random walk in the contingent-culture renders
some steps more probable than others. People come into a world, inherit
ideas and traditions, project themselves in time, and die. Cultures consist of
ideas, beliefs, values that shape people but people shape these same ideas,

beliefs, values. In this sense, it is simultaneously true that history creates

people and that people create history (in doing so, some are deemed heroes
and some villains). More simply said, as James Baldwin put it: "People are
trapped in history, and history is trapped in them."
A well known quote of Edmund Burke sounds like this: "Those who dont
know history are doomed to repeat it. There is a popular adage in our
society that goes something like this: Forget the past, dont worry about the
future, live in the present.
There is truth to this statement. Far too many of us live defined by the
choices we made in the past. This shouldnt be the case. After all, each new
day presents opportunity to become a new person on a new road destined
for a new future.
But those who choose to simply forget the past miss out on its fullest
potential. There are valuable lessons to be learned from it. And those who
choose to ask the right questions about their past are most prepared to live
life to the fullest in the present.
Consider the lessons we can learn from our past. By simply asking the right
questions, we can discoverstrenghts that define us and weaknesses that
frustrate us. The talents and abilities we use to navigate and provide value to
this world define the lives we live and the change we can offer. And by
recalling our strengths in the past, we can better recognize our opportunities
in the present. I think we all agree that everyone has weaknesses in
personality and competence. When left unaddressed, these weaknesses limit
our potential for impact and significance. Discovering them and learning to
overcome them will help us advance as a group.
If we start asking the right questions, there are countless life-giving lessons
we can learn from our past.