History is not the rote recitation of dates, names, and events; any more than mathematics is simply reciting the multiplication table. It is through our sense of history that we help bring the the present day to its full potential.

Human progress is only possible by building on what has gone before, otherwise we become like Sisyphus; forever pushing the rock up the mountain, only to have it roll back. Up and back, forever repeating the same mistakes and never truly progressing to which we are fully capable. This is true of individuals as well as societies.

Through building on the lessons learned, trials endured, secrets uncovered, and beauty revealed we are able to expand and progress – both society and each individual of which it in comprised.

Many today have no sense of history. It is relegated to boring, dusty old books of little value and importance in their everyday world. Even while dangers loom from within and without -  challenges to our Constitution, violence in the Middle East, religious intolorance, racial bigotry -our understanding the world we live in today is limited, at best, without at least a passing knowledge of what has gone before.

There is today a frightening lack of this basic knowledge. Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is the rock of Sisyphus that will roll back over us, dragging us back down the hill of human progress when we aren’t paying attention, wondering what hit us, and having to learn it all over again.

The History Blog Project is designed to connect us to the meaning and importance of history. Through the words of some of history's wisest characters we find insight into our own world. Connecting to the past helps us see how, in so many ways, the human condition remains the same. It is the foundation upon which we can face the modern world and move forward.

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