Magistra vitae

The historia magistra vitae Latin phrase ( est) translated means story ( is ) teacher of life. She comes from Cicero, De oratore II 9 The principle means that can be drawn from history lessons to avoid mistakes.

The antithesis is that the lessons of history are not possible because every historical situation is different and not comparable with others. Another view holds that people can not draw any lesson from history or want because they are intellectually weak.