--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I've always been interested in foreign…" description: "\"I've always been interested in foreign relations. It's my belief that study of history should be our preparation for understanding the present rather t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec0/elizabeth-kostova-6991_belief_i-ve-always-been-interested-in-foreign-r_1098458.png" --- # I've always been interested in foreign relations. It's my… ![“I've always been interested in foreign relations. It's my belief that study of history should be our preparation for understanding the present rather than an escape from it.” quote by Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec0/elizabeth-kostova-6991_belief_i-ve-always-been-interested-in-foreign-r_1098458.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec0/elizabeth-kostova-6991_belief_i-ve-always-been-interested-in-foreign-r_1098458.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ec0/elizabeth-kostova-6991_belief_i-ve-always-been-interested-in-foreign-r_1098458.png) > “I've always been interested in foreign relations. It's my belief that study of history should be our preparation for understanding the present rather than an escape from it.” [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Studying history equips us to understand current events, not to escape them. **In simple terms:** History teaches us about today. Key Takeaway Learn from the past to navigate the present. Themes education historical awareness critical thinking Mood analytical thoughtful Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - policy analysis - personal growth - journalism Key Concepts cause and effect temporal context Questions to Reflect On - What historical lesson applies to your current challenge? - How can you avoid escaping reality through nostalgia? A Different Perspective Risk of over‑reliance on past patterns; history may not repeat exactly. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Foreign relations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-relations/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Preparation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-preparation-2876338/) [Interested Foreign](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interested-foreign-2876339/) [Preparation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preparation/) [Relation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relation/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Study](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study/) [Study history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study-history/) [Study Of History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study-of-history/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) [Understanding Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding-present-1159594/) ## Related quotes > [“The study of history should be our preparation for understanding the present, rather than an escape from it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/the-study-of-history-should-be-our-preparation-for-understanding-the/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [In the United States there's not a lot of people interested in foreign language films. Every time, it's more difficult for foreign language films…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/in-the-united-states-there-s-not-a-lot-of-people-interested-in/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [To a man of liberal education, the study of history is not only useful, and important, but altogether indispensable, and with regard to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/to-a-man-of-liberal-education-the-study-of-history-is-not-only-useful/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [The study of history, while it does not endow with prophecy, may indicate lines of probability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/the-study-of-history-while-it-does-not-endow-with-prophecy-may/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [History, we can confidently assert, is useful in the sense that art and music, poetry and flowers, religion and philosophy are useful. Without it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-steele-commager/history-we-can-confidently-assert-is-useful-in-the-sense-that-art-and/) [Henry Steele Commager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-steele-commager/) > [“The rational study of law is still to a large extent the study of history. History must be a part of the study, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/the-rational-study-of-law-is-still-to-a-large-extent-the-study-of/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/) > [The study of history requires investigation, imagination, empathy, and respect. Reverence just doesnt enter into it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-lepore/the-study-of-history-requires-investigation-imagination-empathy-and-2/) [Jill Lepore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-lepore/) > [One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. We must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/one-is-astonished-in-the-study-of-history-at-the-recurrence-of-the/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [The study of history empowers nations and individuals with an ability to avoid errors of the past and lay foundations for victories in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aberjhani/the-study-of-history-empowers-nations-and-individuals-with-an-ability/) [Aberjhani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aberjhani/) > [The study of history is a powerful antidote to contemporary arrogance. It is humbling to discover how many of our glib assumptions, which seem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/the-study-of-history-is-a-powerful-antidote-to-contemporary-arrogance/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [“The study of history can be sobering and shocking, and morally troubling. One does not have to believe in original sin to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-study-of-history-can-be-sobering-and-shocking-and-morally/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The study of history is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/the-study-of-history-is-the-best-medicine-for-a-sick-mind-for-in/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) > [The study of history requires investigation, imagination, empathy, and respect. Reverence just doesn't enter into it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-lepore/the-study-of-history-requires-investigation-imagination-empathy-and/) [Jill Lepore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-lepore/) > [One of the things I know from the study of history is that history surprises you. History is not written. It's not inevitable.The victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/one-of-the-things-i-know-from-the-study-of-history-is-that-history/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [The study of History is the best medicine for a sick mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/the-study-of-history-is-the-best-medicine-for-a-sick-mind/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) ## More by Elizabeth Kostova > [“These are works of history about your century, the twentieth. A fine century-I look forward to the rest of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/these-are-works-of-history-about-your-century-the-twentieth-a-fine/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [“Then he said a strange thing, but to himself. 'They lived, didn't they?' And I said yes, that when one reads old letters one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/then-he-said-a-strange-thing-but-to-himself-they-lived-didn-t-they/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [I was filled with angst in college, that I struggled with the question of my future, the meaning of my life - spoiled sheltered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/i-was-filled-with-angst-in-college-that-i-struggled-with-the-question/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [We Gypsies know that where Jews are killed, Gypsies are always murthered too. And then a lot of other people, usually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/we-gypsies-know-that-where-jews-are-killed-gypsies-are-always/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [I love to cook and I've cooked a lot of Bulgarian food over the years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/i-love-to-cook-and-i-ve-cooked-a-lot-of-bulgarian-food-over-the-years/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [If there is any good in life, in history, in my own past, I invoke it now. I invoke it with all the passion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/if-there-is-any-good-in-life-in-history-in-my-own-past-i-invoke-it/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [What comes to your mind when you think of the word Transylvania, if you ponder it at all? What comes to my mind are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/what-comes-to-your-mind-when-you-think-of-the-word-transylvania-if/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [Bulgarians eat tarator every single day in summer. They think of it as salad although we'd call it a soup. You can make it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/bulgarians-eat-tarator-every-single-day-in-summer-they-think-of-it-as/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [Festina Lente (Hurry in slowly)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/festina-lente-hurry-in-slowly/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [“I preferred solitude anyway; it was the medium in which I had been raised, in which I swam comfortably.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/i-preferred-solitude-anyway-it-was-the-medium-in-which-i-had-been/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [The thing that most haunted me that day, however...was the fact that these things had - apparently - actually occurred...For all his attention to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/the-thing-that-most-haunted-me-that-day-however-was-the-fact-that/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [“Then draw everything. Do a hundred drawings a day,' he said fiercely. 'And remember that it's a hellish life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/then-draw-everything-do-a-hundred-drawings-a-day-he-said-fiercely-and/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [“Doesn't every love express itself this way, with the seeds of both its flowering and its ruin in the very first words, the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/doesn-t-every-love-express-itself-this-way-with-the-seeds-of-both-its/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [He brought his great hand to rest on an early edition of Bram Stoker's novel and smiled, but said nothing. Then he moved quietly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/he-brought-his-great-hand-to-rest-on-an-early-edition-of-bram-stoker/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [Faith is simply whatever is real to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/faith-is-simply-whatever-is-real-to-us/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) [Explore all 92 Elizabeth Kostova quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) ## More Belief quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“MIND & GRIND Self-belief and hard work can propel you past more talented peers”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamil-ali/mind-grind-self-belief-and-hard-work-can-propel-you-past-more/) [Kamil Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamil-ali/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [It took me 20 years of hard training to get the physique I have today. what you need is what i had - BELIEF…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/branch-warren/it-took-me-20-years-of-hard-training-to-get-the-physique-i-have-today/) [Branch Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/branch-warren/) > [“Here is a fundamental difference between the man of faith and the man of unbelief. The unbeliever is 'of the world', judges everything by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/here-is-a-fundamental-difference-between-the-man-of-faith-and-the-man/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [“She herself vacillated when it came to belief. She did not particularly believe in God. Or, rather, she didn't believe in a particular God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/she-herself-vacillated-when-it-came-to-belief-she-did-not/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [“Rigid traditions capture souls prisons of spiritual thought man’s religion has captured a god grown too small and very weak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-w-earle/rigid-traditions-capture-souls-prisons-of-spiritual-thought-man-s/) [David W Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-w-earle/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [In business, as in politics, it is never easy to go against the beliefs and attitudes held by the majority. The businessman who moves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-paul-getty/in-business-as-in-politics-it-is-never-easy-to-go-against-the-beliefs/) [J. Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/) > [There's no greatest moment in the arts. It's a life; it's a continuity thing. You can't have a great moment because it's spiritual. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-neiman/there-s-no-greatest-moment-in-the-arts-it-s-a-life-it-s-a-continuity/) [LeRoy Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-neiman/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) [Browse all 10,268 Belief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I've always been interested in foreign relations. 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