History always constitutes the relation between a present and its past. Consequently fear of the present leads to mystification of the past

John Berger
About This Quote

When people are afraid of the present, they are often afraid to see what the future has in store. They become mystified about the past for fear of being disappointed by it.

Source: Ways Of Seeing

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More Quotes By John Berger
  1. Autobiography begins with a sense of being alone. It is an orphan form.

  2. A man's death makes everything certain about him. Of course, secrets may die with him. And of course, a hundred years later somebody looking through some papers may discover a fact which throws a totally different light on his life and of which all the...

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  4. The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled. Each evening we see the sun set. We know that the earth is turning away from it. Yet the knowledge, the explanation, never quite fits the sight.

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