A. J. P. Taylor Quotes

Like most of those who study history, he (Napoleon III) learned from the mistakes of the past how to make new ones.

Learning from the past helps to ensure that mistakes are not repeated.

Study the past, if you would divine the future.

Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

It's important to learn the right lessons from the past.

The comfortable thing about the study of history is that it inclines us to think hopefully of our own times.

The best prophet of the future is the past.

No one ever really 'learns' from history, because choices never present themselves in exactly the same way, and because you can always choose similarities and differences to fit current needs.

I feel slightly uneasy at the way historians are consulted as if history is going to repeat itself. It never does.

Men do not learn much from the lessons of history and that is the most important of all the lessons of history.

Americans treat history like a cookbook. Whenever they are uncertain what to do next, they turn to history and look up the proper recipe, invariably designated "the lesson of history.

History is not a blueprint for present practice.

There is nothing more dangerous than mislearning the lessons of history.

I think if we don't understand history, if we don't keep referring back to it, we become complacent. And complacency, as we all know, it leads to repeating history.

I believe we need to learn from our past.

I'm always wary of the lessons of the past. There's a lot of past out there, and you can draw whatever lessons you want.

Treat the past as a school.

The practical value of history is to throw the film of the past through the material projector of the present on to the screen of the future.

Studying the past may suggest new ways of going wrong.

One has to learn from history. Quite frankly, it is almost impossible to have a sense of vision without a sense of history. If history is learned, then it doesn't have to repeat itself over generations.

One of the most important reasons for studying history is that virtually every stupid idea that is in vogue today has been tried before and proved disastrous before, time and again.

Some say, 'Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.' I say, 'Those who ignore history are in for a big surprise.'

I think it is vitally important to study History. If we are going to lead Britain safely into the future, it is essential that we understand our country's historical roots. If we can learn the lessons of the past, we will be able to avoid making mistakes in the future.

Learning history is easy; learning its lessons seems almost impossibly difficult.

I believe that in spite of the recent triumphs of science, men haven't changed much in the last two thousand years; and in consequence we must still try to learn from history. History is ourselves.