“Hegel is correct: we learn from history that we cannot learn from it.”
Source: The Power Elite (1956), p. 23.
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C. Wright Mills 55
American sociologist 1916–1962Related quotes

“We learn from history that we do not learn from history.”

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

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

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.

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

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

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

“The correct lesson to learn from surprises: the world is surprising.”