Sunday Commonplace Entry

on Monday morning

This weeks entry comes from Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari




"In short, the best historians have tried to show how men have acted wisely or foolishly, with prudence or compassion and magnanimity;  recognizing that history is the true mirror of life, they have not simply given a dry, factual account of what happened to this prince or that republic but have explained the opinions, counsels, decisions, and plans that lead men to successful or unsuccessful action.  This is the true spirit of history, which fulfills its real purpose in making men prudent and showing them how to live, apart from the pleasure it brings in presenting past events as if they were in the present."  (from the Preface to Part II)