- B. H. Liddell Hart wrote the book as a summary of the history of warfare. Rather than writing the lessons we learn from history, he inverts the message to the many lessons we fail to learn from history.
- The value of history is in the countless repeated ways things can go wrong.
- History also teaches that the “tough times” are only temporary. There’s a light at the end of the darkest tunnels.
- History is only a broad guide — never offers precise details or blueprints — to dealing with current and future events in life.
- The real lessons come from history’s negative value — in learning what to avoid — because it not only records the common mistakes many others made before us but how and why mistakes were made.
- “‘Fools,’ said Bismarck, ‘say they learn by experience. I prefer to profit by other people’s experience.‘”
- Learning from personal experience should come second to learning from the experience of others since there are thousands of years to draw from.
- Polybius: “There are two roads to the reformation for mankind — one through misfortunes of their own, the other through the misfortunes of others; the former is the most unmistakable, the latter the less painful…the knowledge gained from the study of true history is the best of all educations for practical life.”
- What we often mistake as a leader’s moment of brilliance in victory (on the battlefield) is really due to a long-ago development, innovation, or change in practice for the better that is finally executed in battle. Or, in case of the loser, a deterioration in practice.
- It’s important not to discount the role of mood, morale, and emotional of the people plays in the cause of events.
- It’s human nature to paint people, including ourselves, in a better or worse light all time. History is filled with “leaders” willing to fudge their accounts of battle or write orders for false battles to save, maintain, or improve their reputations. They hide their faults. And if the leaders weren’t doing it, the possibility someone else — biased historians or subordinates looking to improve their position — did it for them.
- “A sound rule of historical evidence is that while assertions should be treated with critical doubt, admissions are likely to be reliable. If there is one saying that embodies a general truth it is “No man is condemned save out of his own mouth.” By applying this test we can go a long way toward a clear verdict on history and on history in the making.”
- Loyalty to the truth should be the ultimate goal of the historian and the reader.
- History teaches that there has been a long-running battle with fear of the truth. People mistakenly fail to admit the truth, in so doing help to perpetuate recorded falsehoods. And if it’s not fear, then it’s distortion of the truth to promote a personal or political cause.
- Those who seek the truth should approach “facts” with skepticism. “Is it true?” should be the first response of those who want to go through life with an open mind.
- “The most dangerous of all delusions are those that arise from the adulteration of history in the imagined interests of national and military morale. Although this lesson of experience has been the hardest earned, it remains the hardest to learn. Those who have suffered most show their eagerness to suffer more.”
- Everyone makes mistakes, but wisest people know it, admit it, and accept it. The greatest failure is failing to recognize our proneness to mistakes.
- Much like the quote “democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others” is that democracy promotes the “triumph of mediocrity,” since its progress toward thought rarely moves faster than its slowest members. Yet, the alternative, despotism, might move faster around progress, typically leads to the “triumph of stupidity.” Weighing the two, mediocrity wins out. Those of us in a democracy, in wanting all its freedoms, must accept that it comes fully equipped with the inefficient pace of progress.
- The psychology that power has on people’s minds has not changed throughout history.
- Associated with the psychology of power, is the ability to repeatedly ignore our capacity to fool ourselves.
- All of civilization is built on the simple idea of keeping promises, while also not making promises we can’t keep. The result is a lasting trust.
- “The cause of most troubles can be traced to excess; the failure to check them to deficiency; their prevention lies in moderation.”
- While the cause of most wars is placed on some economic, political, or religious factor, the deeper factors are always rooted in human nature.
- History shows the end of every war sows the seeds of the next war because victories and peace settlements are rarely fair and balanced for both sides. And long and drawn out wars have no winners, only common losers.
- “It is a recurrent illusion in history that the enemy of the time is essentially different, in the sense of being more evil, than any in the past. It is remarkable to see how not only the impression but the phrases repeat themselves. And even historians are apt to lose their balance when they turn from the past to the problems of their own time.”
- “Looking back on the stages by which various fresh ideas gained acceptance, it can be seen that the process was eased when they could be presented not as something radically new but as the revival in modern terms of a time-honored principle or practice that had been forgotten. This required not deception but care to trace the connection — since “there is nothing new under the sun.""
- Modern warfare relies on depleting the will of the people more so than defeating the opposing army.
- History teaches that we have a long history of propping people up on pedestals out of respect or admiration but risk overinflating their abilities into legends. Over time, facts about the legendary people get overlooked, misplaced, or lost. We know that nobody is perfect, yet we continuously treat the legends as perfection. The older the legend, the older the text, the more we should look at the “facts” skeptically.
- Similarly, the older the text, the more we should treat the lessons within the writing as lessons of life and morality, as opposed to lessons of historical fact. It’s important to remember that the older the text is, the greater the likelihood that emotional bias and embellishment was introduced, first to the orally recorded history, then the written recorded history, and finally to the rewritten recorded history, by humans prone to mistakes.
- Science and technology have advanced more the past hundred years, than the prior millennium, in the improvement of life but when used in war, it’s used as irresponsibly and indifferently as it was in the prior millennium.
- “The germs of war find a focus in the convenient belief that “the end justifies the means.” Each new generation repeats this argument—while succeeding generations have had reason to say that the end their predecessors thus pursued was never justified by the fulfillment conceived. If there is one lesson that should be clear from history it is that bad means deform the end, or deflect its course thither.”
- History teaches that we put more weight on the effect actions have on history than we do on the effect of thoughts. Yet, our capacity for thought and sharing of ideas is what drives all human progress.
- “What can the individual learn from history — as a guide to living? Not what to do but what to strive for. And what to avoid in striving. The importance and intrinsic value of behaving decently. The importance of seeing clearly—not least of seeing himself clearly.”
Quotes
“‘Fools,’ said Bismarck, ‘say they learn by experience. I prefer to profit by other people’s experience.‘”
“A sound rule of historical evidence is that while assertions should be treated with critical doubt, admissions are likely to be reliable. If there is one saying that embodies a general truth it is “No man is condemned save out of his own mouth.” By applying this test we can go a long way toward a clear verdict on history and on history in the making.”
The most dangerous of all delusions are those that arise from the adulteration of history in the imagined interests of national and military morale. Although this lesson of experience has been the hardest earned, it remains the hardest to learn. Those who have suffered most show their eagerness to suffer more.
“The cause of most troubles can be traced to excess; the failure to check them to deficiency; their prevention lies in moderation.”
“It is a recurrent illusion in history that the enemy of the time is essentially different, in the sense of being more evil, than any in the past. It is remarkable to see how not only the impression but the phrases repeat themselves. And even historians are apt to lose their balance when they turn from the past to the problems of their own time.”
“Looking back on the stages by which various fresh ideas gained acceptance, it can be seen that the process was eased when they could be presented not as something radically new but as the revival in modern terms of a time-honored principle or practice that had been forgotten. This required not deception but care to trace the connection — since “there is nothing new under the sun.""
“The germs of war find a focus in the convenient belief that “the end justifies the means.” Each new generation repeats this argument—while succeeding generations have had reason to say that the end their predecessors thus pursued was never justified by the fulfillment conceived. If there is one lesson that should be clear from history it is that bad means deform the end, or deflect its course thither.”
“What can the individual learn from history — as a guide to living? Not what to do but what to strive for. And what to avoid in striving. The importance and intrinsic value of behaving decently. The importance of seeing clearly—not least of seeing himself clearly.”