The master historian reminds us that there is no limit to what we can learn from studying our past, but, he said, it鈥檚 important to remember a few principles when studying the subject:
鈥淣othing ever happened in the past. It happened in the present. Somebody else鈥檚 present.鈥� McCullough used an example to illustrate his point: 鈥淚鈥檓 always annoyed when I hear people talking about the past and they say, 鈥榃ell, that was a simpler time.鈥� Nonsense, there were no simpler times.鈥�
In fact, our ancestors most likely had is much worse than us. 鈥�Abigail Adams wrote that future generations will scarcely be able to imagine the suffering and hardships of their forbearers,鈥� quoted McCullough.
