Essay, Paragraph or Speech on “Lessons We Can Learn From History” Complete Essay, Speech for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Lessons We Can Learn From History

History is a record of facts and events, concerning a country and its people, from earliest times to the present day. It is not a catalogue of dates. It is life, light and romance. Current events being matters within our knowledge, the chief function of history is to give us a glimpse of the past. As one writer puts it, “What history has to teach us before all and everything is our own antecedents, our own ancestors”.

History is a study of man through the ages. It is a study of his way of life, his manner and customs, his prejudices and superstitions, his strifes and struggles, his hopes and fears, his joys and sorrows. It is a study of the change, which has come upon him from age to age under the impact of changing political, social, economic and cultural conditions. It short, it is a study of man’s progress from the savage to the civilized state.

History also tells us how nations, once at the zenith of their glory, have suffered decline and decay and how others have emerged from obscurity and risen to prominence and power. It tells us how one nation has struggled to free itself from foreign yoke and how another has snatched charters of liberty, out of the unwilling hands of a despotic monarch. It tells us how great civilization have come and gone and how, out of their ashes, new ones have sprung into being. It tells us how mighty movements, which go by the name of revolutions and reformations have originated and developed. One is bound to derive immense pleasure from a study of the objective account that history gives of the social, economic and cultural factors which have made a nation what it is. Besides giving pleasure, such a study must necessarily enlarge our mind; it is bound to extend the horizon of our knowledge.

History brings home the great lesson that tyranny and oppression, injustice and unrighteousness, carry with them an inevitable punishment. Such punishment may be delayed but it must come one day. Napoleon, the architect of a mighty edifice of despotism had to die in exile of the barren island of St. Helena. Czardom could not last long. The days of tyrants like Hitler and Mussolini were numbered.

History not only tells us of the past but also enables us to have a peep into the future. History repeats itself and so by a critical study of what has happened before, we may get some indication of the shape of things to come.

History serves as a beacon light to us in our troubles and difficulties. Problems, political, social and economic, with which we are confronted in the present possibly also arose in the past. The knowledge of the way our predecessors solved them may help us to determine our future course of action.

In the pages of history are recorded, in letters of gold, the, lives of great men, who have left an indelible impression of their character and achievements. A story of such lives is bound to serve as an example and inspiration to us.

History also teaches us that if sectarianism and communal prejudices are allowed to grow, national -unity receives a rude shock. India provides the most striking instance of this evil. Since for various reasons, we could not bring about Hindu-Muslim unity, we paid the supreme price of partition of a land, which is really an indivisible unit from geographical, economic and cultural point of view. The creation of a homeland for Muslims has not only given us an unfriendly neighbour on our western frontiers but has also set an example of separatism, which is threatening to disrupt our internal peace and solidarity.

History is a storehouse of wisdom, an unfailing fountain of inspiration. Whatever our problem, it always provides a solution for it. Whatever the cause of our despair, the lessons of history are always there to cheer us. The message of history is the precious heritage of mankind. Unfortunate are those who are ignorant of this treasure or deliberately turn their back upon it and pursue perverse courses of action which are attended by inevitable nemesis.