“Hegel is correct: we learn from history that we cannot learn from it.”

Source: The Power Elite (1956), p. 23.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 4, 2020. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Hegel is correct: we learn from history that we cannot learn from it." by C. Wright Mills?
C. Wright Mills photo
C. Wright Mills 55
American sociologist 1916–1962

Related quotes

Desmond Tutu photo

“We learn from history that we don't learn from history!”

Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner

Often attributed to Desmond Tutu, actual source is G. W. F Hegel: What experience and history teach is this — that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it. Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1832)
Misattributed

George Santayana photo

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

George Santayana (1863–1952) 20th-century Spanish-American philosopher associated with Pragmatism
Jonas Salk photo

“I think of evolution as an error-making and error-correcting process, and we are constantly learning from experience.”

Jonas Salk (1914–1995) Inventor of polio vaccine

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Context: The idea of being constructive, creative, positive, in trying to bring out the best in one's own self and the best in others follows from what I've just been saying. Again, I repeat my belief in us, in ourselves, as the product of the process of evolution, and part of the process itself. I think of evolution as an error-making and error-correcting process, and we are constantly learning from experience. It's the need to dedicate one's self in that way, to one's own self, and to choose an activity or life that is of value not only to yourself but to others as well.

John Dewey photo

“We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.”

John Dewey (1859–1952) American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer
Eleanor Roosevelt photo

“There is not human being from whom we cannot learn something if we are interested enough to dig deep.”

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States

Source: You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life

Amitabh Bachchan photo

“We should learn from the mistakes and experiences of others, particularly from those less knowledgable than we are. If our experiences are not grounded in reality, our decisions can never be correct.”

Amitabh Bachchan (1942) Indian actor

Source: Soul Curry for You and Me: An Empowering Philosophy that Can Enrich Your Life, P. 27.

Related topics