Why Don't We Learn from History?

absolute power an authority peculiar to itself, did it, as I conceive, an undeserved honor; for despotism, taken by itself, can produce no durable results. On close inspection we shall find that religion, and not fear, has ever been the cause of the long-lived prosperity of an absolute government. Whatever exertions may be made, no true power can b

The answer to the conundrum of the Western Front, in purely military terms, did not lie just with new instruments of war, however; it entailed developing new techniques for combining artillery, infantry, tanks, and airplanes and developing a doctrine that emphasized flexibility over rigidity and innovation over obedience to long-established “princi

This is also why undogmatic secular movements tend to make relatively modest promises. Aware of their imperfections, they hope to effect small incremental changes, raising the minimum wage by a few dollars or reducing child mortality by a few percentage points. It is the mark of dogmatic ideologies that due to their excessive self-confidence they r

The test of a good theory lies in its ability to explain the past, for only if it does can we trust what it may tell us about the future.