We cannot explain the choices that history makes, but we can say something very important about them: history’s choices are not made for the benefit … - Yuval Noah Harari

We cannot explain the choices that history makes, but we can say something very important about them: history’s choices are not made for the benefit of humans.

The first principle of monotheist religions is ‘God exists. What does He want from me?’ The first principle of Buddhism is ‘Suffering exists. How do I escape it?

Just as the Atlantic slave trade did not stem from hatred towards Africans, so the modern animal industry is not motivated by animosity. Again, it is fuelled by indifference.

So why study history? Unlike physics or economics, history is not a means for making accurate predictions. We study history not to know the future but to widen our horizons, to understand that our present situation is neither natural nor inevitable, and that we consequently have many more possibilities before us than we can imagine.