Margaret MacMillan Quotes

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Dictators, perhaps because they know their own lies so well, have usually realised the power of history. Consequently, they have tried to re-write, deny, or destroy the past.

Margaret MacMillan

If history is the judge to which we appeal, then it can also find against us. It can highlight our mistakes by reminding us of those who, at other times, faced similar problems but who made different, perhaps better decisions.

Margaret MacMillan

Histories that that show past injustices or crimes can be used to argue for redress in the present.

Margaret MacMillan

Lost golden ages can be very effective tools for motivating people in the present.

Margaret MacMillan

Nationalism brought Germany and Italy into being, destroyed Austrio-Hungary, and, more recently, broke apart Yugoslavia. People have suffered and died, and have harmed and killed others, for their 'nation'.

Margaret MacMillan

We have to be careful to cast our gaze as widely as possible. If we only look for the lessons that reinforce decisions we have already made, we will run into trouble.

Margaret MacMillan

Over the years, historians have tried to discern grand patterns, perhaps one grand pattern, that explain everything.

Margaret MacMillan

History does not produce definitive answers for all time. It is a process.

Margaret MacMillan

Margaret MacMillan

Margaret MacMillan

Born: December 23, 1943 (age 82)

Bio: Margaret Olwen MacMillan is a Canadian historian and professor at the University of Oxford, where she is Warden of St Antony's College.

Known for:

The War That Ended Peace (2013)
History's People: Personalities and the Past (2015)
Women of the Raj (1988)

Margaret MacMillan on Wikipedia

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