Why even study or history? What have we learn to from the past? This is a question many historian has asked through the ages. Personally, I can’t help but be obsessed or perhaps afflicted with a thirst for knowledge of the past.  It is so satisfying in some way to understand how things became the way they are.  

In “The Lessons of History” Will and Ariel Durant spend several essays going over the many reasons to answer the question they put forth: “Of what use have your studies been?” They detail many of the common themes and seeming cycles of history in their essays.  It is an amazing and easy read if you are interested in such things.  They beautifully tie all sorts of strands together to give you more vivid picture of not just how, but some reasons why the world has been shaped by Geology, our own biology, and the governments and religions we create, to name a few.     There’s a sentence in the book that struck me deeply while reading.  While discussing government’s role in history the Durant’s state: “A right is not a gift of God or nature but a privilege which it is good for the group that the individual should have.”  Practically speaking this may be true, however I can’t help but see so many pitfalls that could arise from that belief.  Namely what happens when a group bestows certain rights on some and not others for reasons that appear good.  This collection of essays is full of so much wisdom and thought provoking ideas.  It is so worth your time to give it a read.

“The Lessons of History” by Will and Ariel Durant, Simon & Schuster, 1968, page 11, and 79