Learning

August 11

Kissinger said “it’s rare we learn lessons from history, even more rare that we learn the right ones.”

That’s the trickiest business of history. Actually, it’s the trickiest business of learning—even the few of us who are smart enough to reflect on what is happening around us and ask what lessons we can learn from it often get the lessons wrong. 

For example: Kissinger is right, but that doesn’t mean he learned the right lessons from history—he’s brilliant, well read, and history remembers him a villain. And who’s to say that’s even the right lesson to learn from his story?

Maybe the first lesson of history is something like: you’re going to learn the wrong lesson, but learning the wrong lesson is better than not learning anything at all.

Or maybe the lesson is to give it a rest and enjoy the rest of your Friday free of quotes from the past.

Morning Reading is a daily email to help center yourself, reflect, and prepare for the day. It’s sent with love from your friend, Zach in Austin, Texas. He even drew the logo himself.

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