History is like a pile, made of different opinions by various historians, each
with an equally different station and standpoint, poles apart from the next.
They introduce the figures, sometimes as heroes, sometimes false and
pretentious and at other times, truthful and honest. Sometimes they are
cowards and sometimes they are brave. In some places they are mentioned
as being independent freethinkers and in other, as conservatives.
I often think to myself, how are we to learn our lessons from this vague and
ambiguous source? If the past truly is the light that guides us towards our
future, how can this weak and dim lantern show the path to the future?