Many pundits today are in the habit of misquoting Santayana's epigram, Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Maybe some people have come to grief this way, but they are probably fewer than those who have fallen into the opposite error. One is apt to perish in politics from too much memory, Tocqueville wrote somewhere, with equal truth and greater insight.

Summary

This quote highlights the misinterpretation of Santayana's famous statement about the importance of remembering the past to avoid repeating mistakes. The author suggests that while some individuals may indeed suffer the consequences of not learning from history, there are possibly more people who make the opposite mistake of being excessively bound by the past. The quote alludes to Tocqueville's observation that an excessive focus on past events can be detrimental to one's political endeavors, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach to history and its impact on decision-making.

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