From this I conclude that the best education for the situations of actual life consists of the experience we acquire from the study of serious history. For it is history alone which without causing us harm enables us to judge what is the best course in any situation or circumstance.
Interpretation
Education is best derived from learning history, as it provides valuable insights for real-life situations.
In this quote, Polybius emphasizes the importance of studying serious history as a means of education relevant to real-life situations. He argues that understanding historical events and their outcomes allows us to make informed decisions in our own lives, providing a framework for judgment in various circumstances without the negative consequences of trial and error.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of education, one might quote Polybius to highlight the value of historical knowledge.
Can any one be so indifferent or idle as not to care to know by what means, and under what kind of polity, almost the whole inhabited world was conquered and_x000D_ brought under the dominion of the single city of Rome, and that too within a period of not quite fifty-three years?
The particular aspect of history which both attracts and benefits its readers is the examination of causes and the capacity, which is the reward of this study, to decide in each case the best policy to follow. Now in all political situations we must understand that the principle factor which makes for success or failure is the form of a state's constitution: it is from this source, as if from a fountainhead, that all designs and plans of action not only originate but reach their fulfillment.
Since the masses of the people are inconstant, full of unruly desires, passionate, and reckless of consequences, they must be filled with fears to keep them in order. The ancients did well, therefore, to invent gods, and the belief in punishment after death.
If history is deprived of the Truth, we are left with nothing but an idle, unprofitable tale.
A good general not only sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible.
Whether I'm at the office, at home, or on the road, I always have a stack of books I'm looking forward to reading.
A recluse without books and ink is already in life a dead man.
The ideas gained by men before they are twenty-five are practically the only ideas they shall have in their lives.
I wrote 'Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret' right out of my own experiences and my own feelings when I was in sixth grade.
I believe in women. I desire . . . to do those things that would advance women in moral and spiritual, as well as educational work.
I don't think that our Founders would believe that America could long prosper if the people were not readers.
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