Quote of the Day (Margaret MacMillan, on How History Cautions Us)

“History should not be asked to provide validation for political arguments in the present, or clear guidance for the future, but what it can do is caution us about taking too simple a view of the past.”— Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan, “2016 and All That,” Financial Times, July 9-10, 2016

Quote of the Day (Margaret MacMillan, Writing a Tad Too Soon on 2016)

“Though 2016 isn’t going to usher in a new golden age, it may be the year when we grow up and take responsibility for our own societies—and the planet too. The outpouring of grass-roots support for Syrian refugees, the success of the Paris summit on climate change, the refusal of the people of Paris to give way to fear, the election of middle-of-the-road governments in several countries (including my own Canada): All these are encouraging signs that we are remembering what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature.” —Historian Margaret MacMillan, “The Work of Keeping the Peace,” in “What to Expect in 2016," The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 2-3, 2016

Quote of the Day (Margaret MacMillan, on History as Therapy)

“History should not be written to make the present generation feel good but to remind us that human affairs are complicated.”—Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan, Dangerous Games: The Uses and Abuses of History (2008)