The Original Phrase

Posted by Larry on March 12, 2003

In Reply to: The Original Phrase posted by TheFallen on March 11, 2003

You may be correct. In any event, because the concept is so poorly thought out, I think one treads on dangerously thin ice when quoting the phrase.

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: : I am trying to answer a followup and hope this is how to do it. The most commonly quoted "original" goes something like this:

: : "Those who don't learn from the lessons of history are bound to repeat them".

: : See link below to another discussion on this site.

: :
: : : A few years ago, I read that the correct phrase is, "Those who do not learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them."

: : : This version makes more sense than the commonly quoted phrase, which implies that nothing from the past is worth repeating. That is patently false and indefensible and is why I would never use the common phrase to make a point.

: : : Question: was Santayana misquoted? Or merely wrong?

: According to several sources, including the Columbia World Of Quotations, the original quotation from George Santayana is in fact:-

: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

: I think that confusion arises because so many later writers have amended and/or altered the original.