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About this quote

What does it mean?
Argues that understanding our history is essential for making clear and wise plans for the future.
In plain terms
You need to know your past to plan your future wisely.
What can you take from it?
Study history to navigate the future effectively.

Where it applies

  • strategic planning
  • policy making
  • personal growth

Putting it to work

  • study past events
  • analyze trends
  • inform strategy

Questions to consider

  • How much history is enough to plan?
  • Can we learn from the past without being bound by it?

Another view

Past patterns do not always guarantee future outcomes.

More from Adlai Stevenson

  1. There is no evil in the atom, only in men's souls.

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  2. In America any boy may become President, and I suppose it's just one of the risks he takes.

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  3. In the tragic days of Mussolini, the trains in Italy ran on time as never before and I am told in their way, their horrible way, that the Nazi concentration-ca…

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