Most believe that a satisfactory future requires a return to an idealized past, a past which never in fact existed.

The mistakes (of leaders) are amplified by the numbers who follow them without question. Charismatic leaders tend to build up followings, power structures and these power structures tend to be taken over by people who are corruptible. I don't think that the old saw about 'power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely' is accurate: I think power attracts the corruptible.

Every civilization depends upon the quality of the individuals it produces.

You've heard of animals chewing off a leg to escape a trap? There's an animal kind of trick. A human would remain in the trap, endure the pain, feigning death that he might kill the trapper and remove a threat to his kind.

There is no escape - we pay for the violence of our ancestors.

The vision of time is broad, but when you pass through it, time becomes a narrow door.

Those who would repeat the past must control the teaching of history.