One cannot launch a new history – the idea is altogether unthinkable; there would not be the continuity and tradition. Tradition cannot be contrived or learned. In its absence one has, at the best, not history but ‘progress’ – the mechanical movement of a clock hand, not the sacred succession of interlinked events. Osip Mandelstam
About This Quote

The idea of creating a new history is completely unthinkable. There would not be the continuity and tradition. The culture, traditions and customs of any nation are what make it unique. If one tries to change these it will become something different than the original. Without them, then its just progress that moves mechanically, not the sacred succession of interlinked events.

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More Quotes By Osip Mandelstam
  1. My turn shall also come: I sense the spreading of a wing.
  2. Where to start? Everything cracks and shakes, The air trembles with similes, No one world's better than another;the earth moans with metaphors.
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  4. Only in Russia poetry is respected--it gets people killed.
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