History 12

Block 3 Historical Quotation Interpretations Taylor Hall

1. That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all
the lessons that history has to teach. Aldous Huxley, Collected Essays

2. In this quotation, Huxley provides a commentary on one of the vital things to consider
when studying history. While it is essential to study history in order to avoid repeating
the mistakes of the past, there will always remain many who choose to be ignorant of said
blunders, believing their lessons irrelevant. Many leaders today, especially those of
totalitarian governments, fail to realize that generations of their citizens have been
unhappy, despite their own histories saying exactly that. The Chinese government's
refusal to acknowledge the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests of 1989, for
example, exemplify the ignorance men and governments continue to demonstrate.

3. Aldous Huxley was a British author, most famous for his 1932 dystopian novel Brave
New World. He was born in 1894 in Godalming, England into a family of educators and
scientists. When Huxley was 14, he was stricken with a disease that left him nearly blind.
Initially interested in the sciences as his three brothers were, his near blindness drove him
away from science and towards literature. Huxley most often wrote about the potential
dangers of scientific progress, the abuse of power, and against extreme nationalism. With
regards to the quotation, Huxley wrote his most famous works before the rise of Adolf
Hitler and the Second World War. What he saw through modernization and changing
beliefs in the early twentieth century before World War II led him to worry about the
future of humanity, which in turn likely inspired his belief in mens ignorance of history.

4. I chose this quote largely because I agree, to an extent, with its message and how it may
be applied to the modern world. Humans too often look at history in pieces, frequently
ignoring the bad and highlighting the good. For example, one who grew up in a former
Soviet republic may remember the good times with an air of nostalgia, while disregarding
the many atrocities that were committed under totalitarian regimes. This quote
exemplifies one of the great issues that have plagued humanity for ages and continue to
in some parts of the world. Nevertheless, many countries have successfully managed to
remain conscious of their histories, such as modern Germany and its widespread study of
the Holocaust. Huxley has reminded me that history is not a simple subject, and must
always be approached from many different angles in order to understand as well as apply
learnings to the future.