"History is the nightmare from which I am trying to awake"
- Ismail Kadare
About this Quote
This quote by Ismail Kadare talks with the suggestion that history is a problem that we have to lug with us. It recommends that the past is something that we can not escape, which it haunts us in our present as well as future. The concept of history as a headache suggests that it is something that we prefer to not consider, but that it is inevitable. It is a pointer that the errors of the past can have a long-term effect on our lives which we need to gain from them in order to move forward. The quote additionally speaks with the idea that we should confront our history in order to move beyond it. We must recognize our mistakes and gain from them in order to develop a far better future. Eventually, this quote functions as a suggestion that we must take duty for our past in order to develop a far better future.
"A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason; if he possesses some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himself an architect"
"We have our own history, our own language, our own culture. But our destiny is also tied up with the destinies of other people - history has made us all South Africans"
"It is humiliating to remain with our hands folded while others write history. It matters little who wins. To make a people great it is necessary to send them to battle even if you have to kick them in the pants. That is what I shall do"
