Our parents' generation carried the past memorialized in paint, porcelain, and wood; we cast it off. Even our national history is remembered in terms of the worst we did, not the best.

P.D. James
About This Quote

The past has been forgotten and in its place we have ahistorical, myopic culture. Our fear of our ancestors is greater than their fear of us. We attempt to disown the worst of their actions and achievements in order to become better people. We want to do what they did but we want to do it better and in a way that makes us better people.

Source: The Lighthouse

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