Not to know what happened before one was born is to remain a child. - Cicero. "Explain please"?

Question

that is from cicero

Answer 1

Little children really are nice people, but they don't know much about the world. Many have told us that to be able to understand what is going on now we have to know about what had happened before. That way we can be ready for and make wise changes now so the world will be a better place in the future.

Answer 2

You have to accept that the world existed before you were born so you should learn about those as well as those from only when you were born. Not to do so will leave a large gap in your knowledge and education and give a blinkered attitude. Don't forget that life must have existed before you since otherwise you would not have been born.

Cicero is trying to explain that, as a young, child you have no perception of times before you were born. As you grow you can acquire this knowledge so to refuse to do so leaves you in the mental state of that little child.

Answer 3

I would say it's saying you should learn a little something about history. If you don't learn history, the world will potentially just keep repeating itself. If we're not careful, we will have another Holocaust! Perhaps that is going to extremes, but it's very important to learn the history of the world, your culture, your family : )

Answer 4

It sounds similar to: "He who does not know his history is doomed to repeat it" [George Santayana]. A child only knows what happens to him directly, he does not have the mental development or sophistication to learn vicariously. He doesn't know what happened before he was born so he can't learn from it so he has to repeat the lesson. As Santayana said, he who doesn't know his history (doesn't know what has happened in the past) will not be able to benefit from the lesson and so will have to repeat it.

Answer 5

The quote is talking about history. They say those that don't know there history are doomed to reapeat it. We can learn alot from what happend before, and many of the things that happen now, have happend before.

Answer 6

You must study history and the actions of those that come before you, otherwise you have no knowledge to build upon, you have only infant knowledge instead of what has been developed over the ages.

I guess...

Answer 7

History can educate you, but the teacher only appears when the student is ready.
So if you don't get it, it's not the teacher's fault, you just weren't ready to understand it yet.

U DO, THEY DID, IT'S DONE

Answer 8

I think he means that we should know (or find out about) something of our past, that is history in general and ancestors for individuals in particular...Something like: don't re-invent the wheel.