From T. S. Eliot:
The historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence.
One thought on “Historical sense”
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From T. S. Eliot:
The historical sense involves a perception, not only of the pastness of the past, but of its presence.
Comments are closed.
Well John, I can conjecture that you meant to invite, or even challenge, your readers to enter into that sacred wood where Eliot dwelt at his absolute prime.
Did you also choose this date (the twenty-eighth of July) to somehow invoke the historical sense of that struggle called the Great War until we (for I was alive when it started) managed to create a “Greater” one?
To me, World War I was history, but World War II will always be my present.
This Fall, eighteen-year-olds entering adulthood were born as far removed from the Vietnam War as I was from World War I. Their perspective is indeed historical while my experience is more immediate.
I enjoin the young to talk to the old about history. No book can tell you what they know.