A wind-up toy mouse walks a circular groove in a red clay tray with a yellow ribbon on its tail, against a mint background.

Original artwork, not a still

Wars I Have Seen  ·  1945

Gertrude Stein

It is the soothing thing about history that it does repeat itself.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker finds comfort in the idea that events come round again. If history repeats itself, the present is less alien, and even frightening times become familiar patterns rather than unprecedented shocks. The remark turns a common complaint about history into a quiet, slightly wry consolation.

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