Wikiquote:Quote of the day/June 26, 2007

A knowledge of history as detailed as possible is essential if we are to comprehend the present and be prepared for the future. Fate ... is not the blind superstition or helplessness that waits stupidly for what may happen. Fate is unalterable only in the sense that given a cause, a certain result must follow, but no cause is inevitable in itself, and man can shape his world if he does not resign himself to ignorance. ~ Pearl S. Buck