Not A Law of Nature

Posted on April 9, 2006 in Reading

One intellectual explanation has, however, been denied me. Men wiser and a lot more learned than I have discovered in history a plot, a rhythm, a predetermined pattern. These patterns are concealed from me. I can see only one emergency following upon another as wave follows upon wave, only one great fact with respect to which, since it is unique, there can be no generalizations, only one safe rule for historian: that he should recognize in the development of human destinies the play of the contingent and the unforeseen. This is not a doctrine of cynicism and despair. The fact of progress is written plain and large on the page of history; but progress is not a law of nature. The ground gained by one generation may be lost by the next. The thoughts of men may flow into the channels which lead to disaster and barbarism.

— H. A. L. Fisher