“History is a repository of human experiences and one can not only understand the present by studying history but also find solutions to its problems as well. However, historians sometimes present a very pessimistic view of life whereas at other times, they inspire dejected and disillusioned people to struggle for survival.”

1940s, Philosophy for Laymen (1946)
Context: Mankind, ever since there have been civilized communities have been confronted with problems of two different kinds. On the one hand there has been the problem of mastering natural forces, of acquiring the knowledge and the skill required to produce tools and weapons and to encourage Nature in the production of useful animals and plants. This problem, in the modern world, is dealt with by science and scientific technique, and experience has shown that in order to deal with it adequately it is necessary to train a large number of rather narrow specialists.
But there is a second problem, less precise, and by some mistakenly regarded as unimportant – I mean the problem of how best to utilize our command over the forces of nature. This includes such burning issues as democracy versus dictatorship, capitalism versus socialism, international government versus international anarchy, free speculation versus authoritarian dogma. On such issues the laboratory can give no decisive guidance. The kind of knowledge that gives most help in solving such problems is a wide survey of human life, in the past as well as in the present, and an appreciation of the sources of misery or contentment as they appear in history.

Page 438 https://books.google.com/books?id=-F8wAQAAMAAJ&amp;pg=PA438. Quote republished in &quot; Left and Right: The Prospects for Liberty http://alexpeak.com/twr/lar/1/1/2/,&quot; Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought 1, no. 1 (Spring, 1965), p. &lt;span class=&quot;plainlinks&quot;&gt; 22 http://alexpeak.com/twr/lar/1/1/2/#p22&lt;/span&gt;. <br class="br">&quot;Youth&quot; (1912), II

Source: The Historian (2005), Ch. 39
Context: I’ve always been interested in foreign relations. It’s my belief that the study of history should be our preparation for understanding the present, rather than an escape from it.

The Children of Men (1992)

As quoted in The New York Times (27 May 1984)

Source: Lectures on The Industrial Revolution in England (1884), p. 31

Source: Reading Architectural History (2002), Ch. 2 : The authority of the author : Biography and the reconstruction of the canon

Wright Jr. 87 Years Behind the Black Curtain: An Autobiography. 1965

New millennium, An Interview with Paul A. Samuelson, 2003