History

History speaks only to those people who know how to interpret it.

Human Action, p. 859; p. 863

Historical knowledge is indispensable for those who want to build a better world.

Omnipotent Government, p. 14

History in the broadest sense of the term is the totality of human experience.

The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science, p. 45

History should teach us to recognize causes and to understand driving forces; and when we understand everything, we will forgive everything.

Nation, State, and Economy, p. 2

It is a fact that hardly any historian has fully avoided passing judgments of value. But such judgments are always merely incidental to the genuine tasks of history. In uttering them the author speaks as an individual judging from the point of view of his personal valuations, not as a historian.

Theory and History, p. 21

The way in which the history of the last two hundred years has been treated is really a scandal.

Planning for Freedom, p. 170

There is no such thing as a nonhistorical analysis of the present state of affairs.

Theory and History, p. 287

The mere fact that an event happened in a distant country and a remote age does not in itself prove that it has no bearing on the present.

Theory and History, p. 290

Again and again, the early historians of capitalism have—one can hardly use a milder word—falsified history.

Economic Policy, p. 7

History can tell us what happened in the past. But it cannot assert that it must happen again in the future.

Human Action, p. 546; p. 549

A historian’s achievement consists in presenting the past in a new perspective of understanding.

Theory and History, p. 290

History looks backward into the past, but the lesson it teaches concerns things to come. It does not teach indolent quietism; it rouses man to emulate the deeds of earlier generations.

Theory and History, p. 294

Neither as judges allotting praise and blame nor as avengers seeking out the guilty should we face the past. We seek truth, not guilt; we want to know how things came about to understand them, not to issue condemnations.

Nation, State, and Economy, p. 1

It is not the task of history to gratify the need of the masses for heroes and scapegoats.

Nation, State, and Economy, p. 1

It is not the task of history to project the hatred and disagreements of the present back into the past and to draw from battles fought long ago weapons for the disputes of one’s own time.

Nation, State, and Economy, p. 2

History makes one wise, but not competent to solve concrete problems.

Epistemological Problems of Economics, p. xxiii

If history could teach us anything, it would be that private property is inextricably linked with civilization.

Omnipotent Government, p. 58

Every action adds something to history, affects the course of future events, and is in this sense a historical fact. The most trivial performance of daily routine by dull people is no less a historical datum than is the most startling innovation of the genius.

Theory and History, p. 195