Ludwig Von Mises On History

It is not the task of history to project the hatreds and disagreements of the present back into the past and to draw from battles fought long ago weapons for the disputes of one’s own time.

________________________________________________


Neither as judges allotting praise and blame nor as avengers seeking out the guilty should we face the past. We seek truth, not guilt; we want to know how things came about to understand them, not to issue condemnations.

________________________________________________


History should teach us to recognize causes and to understand driving forces; and when we understand everything, we will forgive everything.