--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The study of history should be our…" description: "\"“The study of history should be our preparation for understanding the present, rather than an escape from it.”\" — Elizabeth Kostova" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/elizabeth-kostova-6991_education_the-study-of-history-should-be-our-prepa_1939738.png" --- # The study of history should be our preparation for… ![“The 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/c70/elizabeth-kostova-6991_education_the-study-of-history-should-be-our-prepa_1939738.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/elizabeth-kostova-6991_education_the-study-of-history-should-be-our-prepa_1939738.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c70/elizabeth-kostova-6991_education_the-study-of-history-should-be-our-prepa_1939738.png) > ““The 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 prepares us to understand today, not to escape from it. **In simple terms:** History teaches present understanding. Key Takeaway Learn from past to act now. Themes history learning present awareness Mood instructive inspirational Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - education - policy analysis - personal reflection Key Concepts temporal perspective critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - How can history inspire proactive change? - What past lesson applies to your current challenge? A Different Perspective People may use history to justify inaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Preparation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-preparation-2876338/) [Present Escape](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/present-escape-3084558/) [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 Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding-present-1159594/) ## Related quotes > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-kostova/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-foreign-relations-it-s-my-belief-that/) [Elizabeth Kostova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-kostova/) > [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/) > [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 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/) > [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/) > [“Much of the study of history is a matter of comparison, of relating what was happening in one area to what was happening elsewhere,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-l-amour/much-of-the-study-of-history-is-a-matter-of-comparison-of-relating/) [Louis L'Amour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-l-amour/) ## 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. 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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 Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. 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