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About this quote

What does it mean?
People often try to stop history by clinging to a false, comfortable past while fearing the future.
In plain terms
Some try to stop progress by wanting a past that never really existed.
What can you take from it?
Resistance to change often relies on nostalgia for a false past.

Where it applies

  • political discourse
  • social movements
  • cultural debates

Putting it to work

  • debating reform
  • addressing fear of change

Questions to consider

  • What past are people longing for?
  • Is the future always better?

Another view

Sometimes past practices hold wisdom worth preserving.

More from Robert Kennedy

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