The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant
Most history is guessing and rest is prejudice.
Have you ever wondered what history can teach us about ourselves? The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant is a small hundred pages book with grand ideas. It takes thousands of years of human stories and squeezes them into simple lessons. Written in 1968, it’s like a treasure map, showing how things like geography, biology, race, character and war shape us and our world. The authors look at life through many windows—nature, people, morals, money, and more. The book starts with impactful quote by authors, “It is a precarious enterprise, and only a fool would try to compress a hundred centuries into a hundred pages of hazardous conclusions.” And Yet We proceed.”
The book starts with Hesitations, where the Durants say history is hard to figure out. People are part of stars, rocks, families, and wars—all at once! They ask what history tells us about who we are and where we’re going. It’s a big question, and they admit it’s risky to answer. This makes us curious because it shows even smart grown-ups don’t know everything. They teach us to be humble.
Next, in the Introduction, authors say history is full of guesses and opinions. “Most history is guessing and rest is prejudice,” they write. Things change fast—new inventions pop up every year. They quote, “The present is the past rolled up for action, and the past is the present unrolled for understanding” which means present is affected by past and past helps us in understanding present.
In chapter History and Earth, we learn how land and weather shape people. Long ago, Egypt grew because of the Nile River, and India thrived with the Ganges. But technology is now helping man in beating nature’s limits. For example the development of airplanes altered the map of civilizations. Trade routes is following less river and sea and man and goods is moving directly to destination. . The chapter ended with famous line “Man, not the earth, makes civilization.”
Then comes Biology and History, where Durants list three lessons : life is competition, life is selection, and life is breeding. Co-operation is real, and increases with social development, but mostly because it is a tool and form of competition; we co-operate in our family, community, club, race or nation in order to strengthen our group in its competition with other groups. Authors further states that we are all born unfree and unequal: subject to our physical and psychological heredity, and to the customs and traditions of our group; diversely endowed in health and strength, in mental capacity and qualities of character. Nature smiles at the union of freedom and equality in our utopias. For freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies. Nature has no use for organisms, variations, or groups that cannot reproduce abundantly. Nature has a passion for quantity as a prerequisite to the selection of quality. Nature is more interested in the species than in the individual, and makes little difference between civilization and barbarism. This chapter provide one significant lesson that, a society in which all potential abilities are allowed to develop and function will have a survival advantage in the competition of groups.
In Race and Civilisation, the Durants bust the idea that one race is best. They say, “History is color-blind,” and point to China’s ancient cities and Mexico’s Mayan pyramids. Black people in America rose high in just 100 years despite tough times. The lesson? “It is not the race that makes the civilization, it is the civilization that makes the people.” This is great ideas because it means anyone can shine with the right chances.
Character and Society shows how people stay the same deep down. Greeks long ago acted like us today—loving, fighting, resting. Society is founded not on the ideals but on the nature of man, and the constitution of man rewrites the constitutions of states. History in the large is the conflict of minorities; the majority applauds the victor and supplies the human material of social experiment. The Durants say real change comes from smart ideas, not just muscles: “The only real revolution is in the enlightenment of the mind and the improvement of character.”
In Morals and History, we see rules change with time. Moral codes differ because they adjust themselves to historical and environmental conditions. Hunters needed to be tough, but farmers valued peace. The Industrial Revolution shook things up—city life made old morals hard to keep. Yet, “Probably every vice was once a virtue,” they note. Rome’s morals slipped in 146 B.C., but it lasted until A.D. 180. This tells us change isn’t always bad—it’s just new.
Religion and History digs into faith. It comforts the poor/sad/destitute/old and keeps order. “As long as there is poverty there will be gods,” authors say. Religion once ruled, but science and cities weakened it. In the Middle Ages, it calmed wild times after wars. Now, we wonder: can we be good without it? It’s a big puzzle for us to solve.
In Economics and History, money drives a lot. Karl Marx thought it ruled everything, like how Egypt’s gold helped Rome. Bankers like the Rothschilds funded wars and kings. “The men who can manage men manage the men who can manage only things, and the men who can manage money manage all." So the bankers, watching the trends in agriculture, industry, and trade, inviting and directing the flow of capital, putting our money doubly and trebly to work, controlling loans and interest and enterprise, running great risks to make great gains, rise to the top of the economic pyramid as per authors. The experience of the past shows that every economic system must sooner or later rely upon some form of the profit motive to motivate individuals and groups to productivity. Substitutes like slavery, police supervision, or ideological enthusiasm prove too unproductive, too expensive, or too transient. Since practical ability differs from person to person, the majority of such abilities, in nearly all societies, is gathered in a minority of men. The concentration of wealth is a natural result of this concentration of ability, and regularly recurs in history. The author concluded that too much inequality in the form of wealth concentration has met with legislation redistributing wealth or by revolution distributing poverty.
Socialism and History looks at sharing versus keeping. Socialism tried to fix greed—like in Egypt (323-30 B.C.), where the state ran farms. The Incas in Peru shared everything for 300 years until 1533. Now, socialism and capitalism is merging: “The fear of capitalism has compelled socialism to widen freedom, and the fear of socialism has compelled capitalism to increase equality.” It’s like teamwork and rivalry making a better game.
In Government and History, author starts with quote from Alexander that “Only a fool would dispute over forms of government”. Since men love freedom, and the freedom of individuals in society requires some regulation of conduct, the first condition of freedom is its limitation; make it absolute and it dies in chaos. So the prime task of the government is to establish order; organized central force is the sole alternative to incalculable and disruptive force in private hands. Though Monarchy is the natural form of government yet it has mixed records. Most governments have been oligarchies-ruled by a minority, chosen either by birth, as in aristocracies, or by a religious organization, as in theocracies, or by wealth, as in democracies. It is unnatural for a majority to rule, for a majority can seldom be organized for united and specific action. However even aristocracies has limitations.
The authors commented that revolutions are part of history. Yet he advised that “ To break sharply with the past is to court the madness that may follow the shock of sudden blows or mutilations. As the sanity of the individual lies in the continuity of his memories, so the sanity of a group lies in the continuity of its traditions” . The authors also stated that only real revolution is in the enlightenment of the mind and the improvement of character, the only real emancipation is individual, and the only real revolutionists are philosophers and saints. Finally author concluded that democracy has done less harm, and more good, than any other form of government. It gave to human existence a zest and camaraderie that outweighed its pitfalls and defects. It gave thought and science and enterprise the freedom essential to their operation and growth. It broke down the walls of privilege and class, and in each generation it raised up ability from every rank and place.
History and War says War is one of the constants of history, and has not diminished with civilization or democracy.. Only 268 of 3,477 years were peaceful—that’s just 7.7%! “War, or competition, is the father of all things, the potent source of ideas, inventions, institutions, and states. Peace is an unstable equilibrium, which can be preserved only by acknowledged supremacy or equal power. Even a philosopher, if he knows history, will admit that a long peace may fatally weaken the martial muscles of a nation. In the present inadequacy of international law and sentiment a nation must be ready at any moment to defend itself; and when its essential interests are involved it must be allowed to use any means it considers necessary to its survival. Yet authors requested for greater peace in international politics by nations through adopting means and methods of King Ashoka
In Growth and Decay, civilizations rise and fall. They start with farms, grow with trade, and crash if leaders mess up. “History repeats itself, but only in outline and in the large,” they explain. If we put the problem further back, and ask what determines whether a challenge will or will not be met, the answer is that this depends upon the presence or absence of initiative and of creative individuals with clarity of mind and energy of will (which is almost a definition of genius), capable of effective responses to new situations (which is almost a definition of intelligence). Men die, nations die but not civilization. For example Rome imported Greek civilization and transmitted it to Western Europe; America profited from European civilization and prepares to pass it on, with a technique of transmission never equaled before.
Finally, in chapter titled Is Progress Real authors asked if we’re getting better. If progress is real despite our whining, it is not because we are born any healthier, better, or wiser than infants were in the past, but because we are born to a richer heritage. History is, above all else, the creation and recording of that heritage. It’s up to us to use it!
So, what’s the big takeaway? The Lessons of History is a great read for people who confuses history with only facts of past with little or zero insights. It has clarified my understanding of History and I hope it will clarify yours too.
Best Wishes !