“I have no expectation that any man will read history aright, who thinks that what was done in a remote age, by men whose names have resounded far, has any deeper sense than what he is doing to-day.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

1840s, Essays: First Series (1841), History
Context: These hints, dropped as it were from sleep and night, let us use in broad day. The student is to read history actively and not passively; to esteem his own life the text, and books the commentary. Thus compelled, the Muse of history will utter oracles, as never to those who do not respect themselves. I have no expectation that any man will read history aright, who thinks that what was done in a remote age, by men whose names have resounded far, has any deeper sense than what he is doing to-day.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson727

American philosopher, essayist, and poet 1803–1882

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1840s, Essays: First Series (1841), History