On the record
History is rather the record of the thwarting of human desire than of its achievement.
Said by
Harold J. Laski
Source
gutenberg.orgHarold J. Laski: “History is rather the record of the thwarting of human desire than of its achievement.”
Editor's note · Context
Laski reflects on history as a narrative of unfulfilled human aspirations rather than successes.
Share
More from Harold J. Laski
It has been the historic character of persecution always to degrade the persecutor and to strengthen the persecuted by drawing attention to their claims.
To deny novelty or grievance a right of expression is a certain, if, indeed, an ultimate, validation of the truth they contain.
The intolerance may be Catholic, when it insists that a unity of outlook is essential for the preservation of society; or it may be Protestant when, as with Calvin and the Socinians, it holds that the blasphemous nature of the belief…
Each age makes some idol in its own image and sacrifices upon its altar the freedom of those who refuse it worship.
Other voices in this conversation
