We Learn From History That We Do

The First Glance At History Convinces Us That The Actions Of Men Proceed From Their Needs, Their Passions, Their Characters And Talents; And Impresses Us With The Belief That Such Needs, Passions And Interests Are The Sole Spring Of Actions.

When Liberty Is Mentioned, We Must Always Be Careful To Observe Whether It Is Not Really The Assertion Of Private Interests Which Is Thereby Designated.

What Experience And History Teach Is This - That Nations And Governments Have Never Learned Anything From History, Or Acted On Any Lessons They Might Have Drawn From It. Variant: What Experience And History Teach Is This - That People And Governments Never Have Learned Anything From History, Or Acted On Principles Deduced From It.

Nothing Great In The World Has Ever Been Accomplished Without Passion.

The Evident Character Of This Defective Cognition Of Which Mathematics Is Proud, And On Which It Plumes Itself Before Philosophy, Rests Solely On The Poverty Of Its Purpose And The Defectiveness Of Its Stuff, And Is Therefore Of A Kind That Philosophy Must Spurn