Governments have never learned anything from history, or acted on principles deducted from it.
Meaning of the quote
Governments often ignore the lessons of the past and fail to apply the insights gained from history to make wise decisions. They tend to repeat the same mistakes instead of learning from them and using that knowledge to guide their actions in a more thoughtful and effective way.
More quotes from Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Mark this well, you proud men of action! you are, after all, nothing but unconscious instruments of the men of thought.
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Governments have never learned anything from history, or acted on principles deducted from it.
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Once the state has been founded, there can no longer be any heroes. They come on the scene only in uncivilized conditions.
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The learner always begins by finding fault, but the scholar sees the positive merit in everything.
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I’m not ugly, but my beauty is a total creation.
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Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.
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Animals are in possession of themselves; their soul is in possession of their body. But they have no right to their life, because they do not will it.
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The history of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of freedom.
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The Few assume to be the deputies, but they are often only the despoilers of the Many.
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Too fair to worship, too divine to love.
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An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think.
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Truth in philosophy means that concept and external reality correspond.
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Education is the art of making man ethical.
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We do not need to be shoemakers to know if our shoes fit, and just as little have we any need to be professionals to acquire knowledge of matters of universal interest.
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To him who looks upon the world rationally, the world in its turn presents a rational aspect. The relation is mutual.
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Mere goodness can achieve little against the power of nature.
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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.
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It is easier to discover a deficiency in individuals, in states, and in Providence, than to see their real import and value.
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Amid the pressure of great events, a general principle gives no help.
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World history is a court of judgment.
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Genuine tragedies in the world are not conflicts between right and wrong. They are conflicts between two rights.
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