Artist: Samuel Johnson Woolf (1880-1948). Time magazine.

I’ve never been much of a history fan. Whether it had something to do with that tyrant of a teacher I had or my limited attention span, I’ve always found it hard to commit battles and reigning years to memory.

Only after I’d finished school would I discover the true importance of knowing your roots – from the modern man to the last president who made a change. When I read such inspiring words as the ones below, I feel a giant finger pointed at me.

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

–George Santayana

(The famous saying can also be found as: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”)

Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. He was also a naturalist, which is another way of saying one doesn’t care much for the notion of God. Ironically, he is said to have found profound meaning in religious ideas and texts.

His philosophical work and publications span nearly six decades. His best known works include: Persons and Places (Santayana’s autobiography incorporating Persons and Places; The Middle Span, and My Host the World.); The Sense of Beauty: Being the Outline of Aesthetic Theory; Interpretations of Poetry and Religion; The Last Puritan: A Memoir in the Form of a Novel; and The Letters of George Santayana, containing over 3,000 of his letters to more than 350 recipients, many discovered posthumously.