“But precisely because such an analysis of history comes closer to the truth, it is more dangerous. It gives the illusion of full knowledge”

—  Czeslaw Milosz, book The Captive Mind

The Captive Mind (1953)
Context: Undoubtedly, one comes closer to the truth when one sees history as the expression of the class struggle rather than a series of private quarrels among kings and nobles. But precisely because such an analysis of history comes closer to the truth, it is more dangerous. It gives the illusion of full knowledge; it supplies answers to all questions, answers which merely run around in a circle repeating a few formulas.

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Czeslaw Milosz photo
Czeslaw Milosz106
Polish, poet, diplomat, prosaist, writer, and translator 1911–2004

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