Doomed to Repeat History

Comments repeatedly invoke the idea that ignoring or forgetting history's lessons condemns people to repeat past mistakes, often quoting George Santayana's famous phrase and applying it to contemporary behaviors.

➡️ Stable 0.5x Politics & Society
3,627
Comments
20
Years Active
5
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#6929
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
1
2008
14
2009
23
2010
33
2011
52
2012
70
2013
132
2014
93
2015
111
2016
157
2017
218
2018
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2019
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2020
287
2021
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2022
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2023
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2024
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2025
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2026
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Keywords

OK WW2 history repeat past condemned doomed glimpse lessons mistakes ignore learn

Sample Comments

watwut Jul 28, 2018 View on HN

Common people, being like people in the past can be bad news. How come only good things about past are allowed to be said?

digi_owl Aug 15, 2015 View on HN

There are times i wonder if people are incapable of learning from history...

gmarx Aug 28, 2017 View on HN

those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.

arcticbull Jul 27, 2021 View on HN

Haha, the history is past, ideally we should learn from those mistakes not facilitate re-creating them!

moe Dec 8, 2011 View on HN

Not sure what more to say beyond a good old quote; Those who don't understand history are destined to repeat it.

dkjaudyeqooe Apr 2, 2025 View on HN

Those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it.

mfukar Nov 25, 2016 View on HN

True. We tend to forget the lessons of history very fast.

yellowapple Feb 16, 2015 View on HN

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Those who can remember the past are condemned to watch everyone else repeat it.

enraged_camel May 25, 2017 View on HN

Those who don't know history are doomed to reinvent it!

greenlblue Feb 13, 2010 View on HN

"Those that don't know history are doomed to repeat it" - similar kind of mantra and I like it.