--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The cost of contemplating history is…" description: "\"“The cost of contemplating history is often an uneasy conscience.”\" — Richard Kluger" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cca/richard-kluger-51513_ethics_the-cost-of-contemplating-history-is-oft_1334745.jpg" --- # The cost of contemplating history is often an uneasy… ![“The cost of contemplating history is often an uneasy conscience.” quote by Richard Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cca/richard-kluger-51513_ethics_the-cost-of-contemplating-history-is-oft_1334745.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cca/richard-kluger-51513_ethics_the-cost-of-contemplating-history-is-oft_1334745.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cca/richard-kluger-51513_ethics_the-cost-of-contemplating-history-is-oft_1334745.jpg) > ““The cost of contemplating history is often an uneasy conscience.”” [Richard Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-kluger/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reflecting on the past can stir guilt because it reveals past wrongs or missed chances. **In simple terms:** Thinking about history can make us feel uneasy. Key Takeaway Acknowledge past lessons, act responsibly now. Themes history conscience reflection Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - political decision making - education - media analysis Key Concepts moral accountability psychology of guilt Questions to Reflect On - How does remembering history shape your current choices? - What aspects of the past cause you discomfort? A Different Perspective History alone cannot change present actions without concrete steps. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ## Related quotes > [Rich Mullins was the uneasy conscience of Christian music. He didn't live like a star. He'd taken a vow of poverty so that what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-grant/rich-mullins-was-the-uneasy-conscience-of-christian-music-he-didn-t/) [Amy Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-grant/) > [An uneasy conscience is a hair in the mouth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/an-uneasy-conscience-is-a-hair-in-the-mouth/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Mirthfulness is in the mind and you cannot get it out. It is just as good in its place as conscience or veneration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/mirthfulness-is-in-the-mind-and-you-cannot-get-it-out-it-is-just-as/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Thou knowest that these things which I say are true, and that I was never delighted in my own praise, for the secret of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/boethius-d-524/thou-knowest-that-these-things-which-i-say-are-true-and-that-i-was/) Boethius D. 524 > [A clear conscience is the softest pillow in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-r-narayana-murthy/a-clear-conscience-is-the-softest-pillow-in-the-world/) [N. R. Narayana Murthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-r-narayana-murthy/) > [A clere conscience is a sure carde.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lyly/a-clere-conscience-is-a-sure-carde/) [John Lyly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lyly/) > [ \[D\]on't grow old. With age comes caution, which is another name for cowardice… Whatever else you do in life, don't cultivate a conscience. Without… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesketh-pearson/d-on-t-grow-old-with-age-comes-caution-which-is-another-name-for/) [Hesketh Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesketh-pearson/) > [Never can true courage dwell with them, Who, playing tricks with conscience, dare not look At their own vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/never-can-true-courage-dwell-with-them-who-playing-tricks-with/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [“If we cannot be happy and powerful and prey on others, we invent conscience and prey on ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/if-we-cannot-be-happy-and-powerful-and-prey-on-others-we-invent/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [Making money doesn't oblige people to forfeit their honor or their conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-rothschild/making-money-doesn-t-oblige-people-to-forfeit-their-honor-or-their/) [Guy de Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-rothschild/) > [Let us be thankful for health and competence, and, above all, for a quiet conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/izaak-walton/let-us-be-thankful-for-health-and-competence-and-above-all-for-a/) [Izaak Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/izaak-walton/) > [My conscience is really active. So I feel bad about spending excess amount of money on things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd/my-conscience-is-really-active-so-i-feel-bad-about-spending-excess/) [Syd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd/) > [Writing adds up to the conscience of our times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-firrell/writing-adds-up-to-the-conscience-of-our-times/) [Martin Firrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-firrell/) > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) Rabelaise > [Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/self-respect-and-a-clear-conscience-are-powerful-components-of/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) ## More by Richard Kluger > [Every time a newspaper dies, even a bad one, the country moves a little closer to authoritarianism; when a great one goes, like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-kluger/every-time-a-newspaper-dies-even-a-bad-one-the-country-moves-a-little/) [Richard Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-kluger/) > [“White Americans cannot deny their long history of abusive transactions with people of color. These offenses, it should be noted out of fairness, can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-kluger/white-americans-cannot-deny-their-long-history-of-abusive/) [Richard Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-kluger/) > [“Americans, from the beginning and throughout much of their history, were a warrior people when dealing with those who stood in their path.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-kluger/americans-from-the-beginning-and-throughout-much-of-their-history/) [Richard Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-kluger/) > [“Scholars have estimated that by 1850, the aboriginal population in North America—besieged by the invaders’ explosive weaponry, wondrous technology, contemptuous cruelty, and irresistible pathogens,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-kluger/scholars-have-estimated-that-by-1850-the-aboriginal-population-in/) [Richard Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-kluger/) > [“Still, it had been a triumphal six-week tour. The nervy, smooth-talking governor had dispossessed the natives of 20,000 square miles without firing a shot.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-kluger/still-it-had-been-a-triumphal-six-week-tour-the-nervy-smooth-talking/) [Richard Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-kluger/) > [“Output had fallen to about half that figure in the last years of the Red empire, causing a cigarette shortage so severe that Soviet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-kluger/output-had-fallen-to-about-half-that-figure-in-the-last-years-of-the/) [Richard Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-kluger/) [Explore all 7 Richard Kluger quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-kluger/) ## More Conscience quotes > [Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/self-respect-and-a-clear-conscience-are-powerful-components-of/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) Rabelaise > [Writing adds up to the conscience of our times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-firrell/writing-adds-up-to-the-conscience-of-our-times/) [Martin Firrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-firrell/) > [My conscience is really active. 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