Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant was by far the best book that I read about history. In this short book, they reflect their thoughts and comments based on earth, biology, race, character, religion, economics, government, and war. While many of their points were valid and correct I did think that they outdid themselves trying to prove they were correct. Yet again how could you be correct when no one knows the actual truth behind history. As you know every book has some type of message and I believe the message they were trying to get across was that ideas and stories are the strongest things in history. Most history is guessing, and the rest is prejudice. ”
This was a quote in the book, Lessons of History. One can assume that this is correct and that Will and Ariel Durant did most of their guessing when writing this book. “To begin with, do we really know what the past was, what actually happened, or is history “a fable” not quite “agreed upon? ” I am glad that they see the idea and that history could just be another myth or tale. As I continued reading this book they got me to think about what actually happened in the past. Is it just myths that have been passed forward or is it actual detail facts that they found.
It’s all guessing and that’s part of what we learn. Do the stories that are passed down from year to year actually happen? I guess we will never know. “It is a precarious enterprise, and only a fool would try to compress a hundred centuries into a hundred pages of hazardous conclusion” “Human History is a brief spot in space, and its first lesson is modesty” It is said that human actions make the world, which is kind of scary because they can also change the world.
Whether that means in good ways or bad. For all we know one bad catastrophe could change civilization. Man not the earth makes civilizations. ” Of course, it seems like our only challenge is climate. A tornado or hurricane could come and destroy everything that humans have worked so hard for but in the end, no one knows why. As the climate was a challenge, so was having a different tone of color. Why is it that race is such a bad thing and frowned upon. “It is not the race that makes the civilization, it is the civilization that makes the people: circumstances geographical, economic, and political create a culture, and the culture creates a human type.
Good reasoning and yet we stand here today with people who reconsider and think about what culture they pursue and want to be apart of. We are all part of some form of biology is what Will and Ariel say, and there are three lessons. 1) “life is competition” 2) “life is selection” 3) “life must breed. ” We are all competing for something. It could be food or just resources in general and this is one the things that they point out in which I enjoyed reading about. Now that it comes into mind, competition doesn’t just have to be about people or animals.
Competition could also be war and I notice that this is one of the things that they point out in the book. While Will and Ariel Durant say, “War is a nation’s way of eating. ” I disagree. I am sure that sometimes it may seem like a nation creates war to get their way and in some cases that may be true but not in the way they think. I believe war is started because someone disagrees with a person’s thought or initially takes something out of proportion and changes the others people’s views to make one another look like a bad person.
While in some cases the winning side gets something deserving, it doesn’t mean it’s always good. Religion was a big part of society and it seemed to influence a lot of people. “It was fear that first made the gods. ” What made a man fear? People. Humans overall can be the worst but why fear when you have someone to rely on and that you trust will look after you. A man has no fear, or a woman better yet has no fear if they feel as if they’re being protected. That is what keeps people motivated and keeps them going and proud.
I believe that some people’s religion beliefs even allows them the strength to join the army. “It is pitiful (says the general) that so many young men die in battle, but more of them die in automobile accidents than in war, and many of them riot and rot for lack of discipline; they need an outlet for their combativeness, their adventurousness, their weariness with prosaic routine; if they must die sooner or later why not let them die for their country in the anesthesia of battle and the aura of glory?
Even a philosopher, if he knows history, will admit that a long peace may fatally weaken the martial muscles of a nation. ” On recent polls, it is said that nearly 1. 3 million people died in road crashes each year, on average 3,287 deaths a day. That is perhaps more than a battle, this is truly sad and it makes sense. This was by far my favorite quote in the book because it says nothing but the truth. I mean yes, so many people are scared of the thought of even joining the war but why not give it a chance.
You have a higher risk dying in everyday life than in combat and that is truly scarier, so I think. Although I am all for this quote and the mind setting of Will and Ariel, I do understand the opposition. I could try and sit here and convince you this is correct and you should join but I’m not going to do that. I, personally, am not fit for the army and I am sure that many others are not as well and not only that but I am sure that many others, along with myself, would not consider the army. Life is growing as we know it and it seems to never stop.
Parents never know anything about their children. “… or are we nearing such moral and social disorder that frightened parents will run back to Mother Church and beg her to discipline their children, at whatever cost to intellectual liberty? ” We were at that point but we have grown from it and it can be a good thing. I’d like to think of this time frame where there is no such thing as that and hopefully, I am right. If you take a second to think about it, civilization has a time frame and if we were to destroy it we would all be terrible.
We are lucky to have parents that care so much or grandparents or any person in that matter that keep each of us in reach and teach us better. Lessons of History was a passionate book and I enjoyed reading Will and Ariel Durant’s opinion and perspectives on things. I would say it opens your eyes and mind to what was out there before and what could possibly still be here in the world today. We cherish life but we also can take advantage of it. “And to his final breath, he will be grateful for this inexhaustible legacy, knowing that it is our nourishing mother and our lasting life. ”
