Who controls the past, controls the future. Who controls the present, controls the past. George Orwell

1. Who controls the past, controls the future. Who controls the present, controls the past. George Orwell Compiled by Jim Lerch

2. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. George Santayana Compiled by Jim Lerch

3. We learn from history that we do not learn from history. Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel Compiled by Jim Lerch

4. We learn from history that we learn nothing from history. George Bernard Shaw Compiled by Jim Lerch

5. That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history. Aldous Huxley Compiled by Jim Lerch

6. The lesson of history is rarely learned by the actors themselves. James A. Garfield Compiled by Jim Lerch

7. History repeats itself; that's one of the things that's wrong with history. Clarence Darrow Compiled by Jim Lerch

8. History repeats itself, says the proverb, but that is precisely what it never really does. It is the historians (of a sort) who repeat themselves. Clement F. Rogers Compiled by Jim Lerch

9. It was that there are no simple lessons in history, that it is human nature that repeats itself, not history. John Toland Compiled by Jim Lerch

10. We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it. John F. Kennedy Compiled by Jim Lerch

11. I don't know much about history, and I wouldn't give a nickel for all the history in the world. History is more or less bunk. It is tradition. We want to live in the present, and the only history that is worth a tinker's dam is the history we make today. Henry Ford Compiled by Jim Lerch

12. A lot of guys have had a lot of fun joking about Henry Ford because he admitted one time that he didn't know history. He don't know it, but history will know him. He has made more history than his critics ever read. Will Rogers Compiled by Jim Lerch

13. History is a set of lies agreed upon. Napoleon Bonaparte Compiled by Jim Lerch

14. History, n. An account mostly false, of events mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers mostly fools. Ambrose Bierce Compiled by Jim Lerch

15. History is written by the winners. George Orwell Compiled by Jim Lerch

16. History is the propaganda of the victors. Ernst Toller Compiled by Jim Lerch

17. The past has always been the handmaid of authority. J. H. Plumb Compiled by Jim Lerch

18. It is the essence of the poor that they do not appear in history. Anonymous Compiled by Jim Lerch

19. History must be written of, by and for the survivors. Anonymous Compiled by Jim Lerch

20. History is too much about wars; biography too much about great men. Virginia Woolf Compiled by Jim Lerch

21. History is the only laboratory we have in which to test the consequences of thought. Etienne Gilson Compiled by Jim Lerch

22. History is nothing but a collection of fables and useless trifles, cluttered up with a mass of unnecessary figures and proper names. Leo Tolstoy Compiled by Jim Lerch

23. There is no history, only histories. Karl Popper Compiled by Jim Lerch

24. History does nothing, possesses no enormous wealth, fights no battles. It is rather man, the real, living man, who does everything, possesses, fights. It is not History, as if she were a person apart, who uses men as a means to work out her pursuing their purposes. Karl Marx Compiled by Jim Lerch

25. History, facts and truth are all Divine Products, and must prevail. Charles A. Briggs Compiled by Jim Lerch

26. History is the sum total of things that could have been avoided. Konrad Adenauer Compiled by Jim Lerch

27. The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle. Eric Hoffer Compiled by Jim Lerch

28. History is not a catalogue but a convincing version of events. A. J. P. Taylor Compiled by Jim Lerch

29. History is a vast early warning system Norman Cousins Compiled by Jim Lerch

30. Historians have powerful imaginations, which are essential and dangerous. Robert Stinson Compiled by Jim Lerch

31. The past is really almost as much a work of the imagination as the future. Jessamyn West Compiled by Jim Lerch

32. I often think it odd that it [history] should be so dull, for a great deal of it must be invention. Catherine Morland Compiled by Jim Lerch

33. A historian who would convey the truth must lie. Often he must enlarge the truth by diameters, otherwise his reader would not be able to see it. Mark Twain Compiled by Jim Lerch

34. History books that contain no lies are extremely dull. Anatole France Compiled by Jim Lerch

35. History would be a wonderful thing — if it were only true. Leo Tolstoy Compiled by Jim Lerch

36. The writing of history reflects the interests, predilections, and even prejudices of a given generation. John Hope Franklin Compiled by Jim Lerch

37. It should be known that history is a discipline that has a great number of approaches. Ibn Khaldun Compiled by Jim Lerch

38. The history of all times, and of today especially, teaches that ... women will be forgotten if they forget to think about themselves. Louise Otto Compiled by Jim Lerch

39. As soon as histories are properly told there is no more need of romances. Walt Whitman Compiled by Jim Lerch

40. If an historian were to relate truthfully all the crimes, weaknesses and disorders of mankind, his readers would take his work for satire rather than for history. Pierre Bayle Compiled by Jim Lerch

41. Genuine historical knowledge requires nobility of character, a profound under-standing of human existence — not detachment and objectivity. Friedrich Nietzsche Compiled by Jim Lerch

42. The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice. Mark Twain Compiled by Jim Lerch

43. Men ever praise the olden time and find fault with the present … they laud all they remember to have seen in their youth. Their opinion is generally erroneous … We never know the whole truth about the past. Nicólo Machiavelli Compiled by Jim Lerch

44. The main thing is make history, not to write it. Otto von Bismarck Compiled by Jim Lerch

45. Any fool can make history, but it takes a genius to write it. Oscar Wilde Compiled by Jim Lerch

46. The “good old days” were never all that good. John C. Olbrich Compiled by Jim Lerch

47. 5 Paragraph Essay (graded): blue or black ink on lined paper, 300 words min. • Define History. Include both what it is and what it is NOT. Include relevant examples, details, and/or quotes. • Explain reasons for studying history AND reasons for not studying it. Take a position – is history ultimately “useful”, or not. Include relevant examples, details, and/or quotes. • HINTS: write in paragraph form. Have a thesis paragraph first (be specific); use your next paragraph (1st body) for the history definition, then two more body paragraphs (2nd & 3rd body) for reasons for studying/not studying. • Last paragraph (5th total): Conclusion – summarize your main points, take a stand. • Turn in your essay, with your notes stapled to the back. Compiled by Jim Lerch