The mistakes of history might be gradually forgotten, but historical truth cannot be forgotten, since forgetting history could lead to the recurrence of the same mistakes.

But I couldn’t ignore it. I mean, I guess I couldn’t. Ignoring stuff is always an option, up until it kills you.

It is said that those who fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it. That’s not quite correct. We all forget history. The key is whether we have a way to go back to rediscover what we forget. More directly, the key is whether an objective past can keep us honest.

We all have history. You can think you’re over your history. You can think the past is the past. And then something happens, often innocuous, that shows you how far you are from over it. The past is always with you.

Don't forget your history nor your destiny

You can hide memories, but you can't erase the history that produced them.

This is the trouble with history, though. Even if you were there, which I obviously was, it's sometimes very difficult to pin down.

There's an old saying about those who forget history. I don't remember it, but it's good.

You can't outrun the history train

So you can be a historian and also be an asshole.

We start from scratch, every generation. History does not bend inevitably toward justice, or freedom, or decency, or even stability. History doesn’t do that in Hong Kong, or in Moscow, or in Washington or New York City or Los Angeles. History goes where we push it. And if we don’t push, someone else will.

You can’t just…ignore them out of existence though apparently that’s exactly what you’ve been attempting.

History isn't something you look back at and say it was inevitable, it happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities.

No one is so brilliant that he can afford to neglect what history can teach him.