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It has become too easy to see that the luckless men of the past lived by mistakes, even absurd beliefs, so we may well fail in a decent respect for them, and forget that historians of the future will point out that we too lived by myths.

— Herbert J. Muller Freedom in the Western World (1963)

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History

More quotes by Herbert J. Muller

Although science is no doubt the Jehovah of the modern world, there is considerable doubt about the glory of its handiwork.

Science and Criticism (1943)

It is open to question whether men today, despite the enormous increase in their knowledge, wealth, and power, can yet endure a universe that leaves them alone, or can manage to live in freedom.

The Loom of History (1958)

To say...that a man is made up of certain chemical elements is a satisfactory description only for those who intend to use him as a fertilizer.

Science and Criticism (1943)

Few have heard of Fra Luca Pacioli, the inventor of double-entry book-keeping; but he has probably had much more influence on human life than has Dante or Michelangelo.

The Uses of the Past (1957)

It is fitting that her [Ancient Egypt's] most enduring works remain the pyramids. They are monuments to the majesty of her ideal, and to its basic absurdity; to the promise of her beginnings, and to its curse.

The Loom of History (1958)

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A generation which ignores history has no past —and no future.

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History, Stephen said, is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.

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If we don’t care about our past we can’t have very much hope for our future.

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I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past, — so good night!

Thomas Jefferson

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Herbert J. Muller (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.