ASSIGNMENT:
- Read the following quotes.
- Write an essay of 150-250 words explaining the value of history and/or the humanities by using the wisdom of one or more quotes. (Note: This essay is Exam #1.)
SELECTION: Quotes on the study of history and the humanities.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.” – Solomon
“Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them.” – Francis Bacon
“Education ought to be little more than a form of intellectual repentance. If it is more than that or less than that, horrors result.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
“Those who have no concern for their ancestors will, by simple application of the same rule, have none for their descendants.” – Richard Weaver
“The recollection of the past is only useful by way of provision for the future.” – Samuel Johnson
“History must be our deliverer not only from the undue influence of other times, but from the undue influence of our own, from the tyranny of the environment and the pressures of the air we breathe.” – Lord Acton
“Time after time mankind is driven against the rocks of the horrid reality of a fallen creation. And time after time mankind must learn the hard lessons of history—the lessons that for some dangerous and awful reason we can’t seem to keep in our collective memory.” – Hilaire Belloc
“So alongside the ‘harvest’ of creativity and self-sacrifice, of scientific investigation and social conscience, of mission and spirituality, there is the second harvest [evil deeds]. But this is what the Christian faith, centered on the cross, is all about: on the cross, triumph and victory are shot through with rejection, disaster and dereliction. There the true nature of human history stands displayed. The Christian faith does not have to contort itself to embrace the hard facts of history. It admits that the tragedy of history cannot be avoided, but claims that there is power that redeems tragedy.” – John Briggs
“They will never love where they ought to love who do not hate where they ought to hate.” – Edmund Burke