"The past isn’t past; it’s still shaping the present. But even more than that, I believe that the study of history is essentially an exercise in empathy. You have to imagine what it was like to be a peasant in eighteenth century France. Or to be King Louis XVI, or to be Marie Antoinette, or Robespierre. What the study of history forces you to confront is how people who are acting rationally, who think they’re acting in their own best interest- and in many cases think they’re acting in the best interest of their countries- can end up killing so many people, and in many cases killing themselves! I believe that thinking about those questions makes us better at living our own little lives even if it is in a less fancy costume."
- John Green,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyZsLYxaIuM
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