Words to Ponder: What is History Edition

"History ought never to be confused with nostalgia. It's written not to revere the dead, but inspire the living. It's our cultural bloodstream, the secret of who we are, and it tells us to let go of the past even as we honor it, to lament what ought to be lamented, to celebrate what should be celebrated and, if in the end, that history turns out to reveal itself a patriot, well then, I don't think Churchill or Orwell would have minded very much, and as a matter of fact, neither do I."

--Simon Schama, A History of Britain (2000), Episode 15: "The Two Winstons."