The whole of world history often seems to me nothing more than a picture book which portrays humanity's most powerful and a senseless desire - the desire to forget. Does not each generation, by means of suppression, concealment, and ridicule, efface what the previous generation considered most important?

Hermann Hesse
About This Quote

In his book "The Meaning of the Hour," historian Paul Johnson explains this quote from Nietzche. He says, "In a sense, 'the whole of world history often seems to me nothing more than a picture book which portrays humanity's most powerful and a senseless desire - the desire to forget.' Does not each generation, by means of suppression, concealment, and ridicule, efface what the previous generation considered most important? What is actually going on in history is that we are living through a process of time travel. What we try to forget is our own past.

Source: The Journey To The East

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