Margaret MacMillan, The Uses and Abuses of History (2008)
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History can be helpful in making sense of the world we live in. It can also be fascinating, even fun. How can even the best novelist or playwright invent someone like Augustus Caesar or Catherine the Great, Galileo or Florence Nightingale? How can screenwriters create better action stories or human dramas than exist, thousand upon thousand, throughout the many centuries of recorded history? There is a thirst out there both for knowledge and to be entertained, and the market has responded with enthusiasm.

— Margaret MacMillan

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "History can be helpful in making sense of the world we live in. It can also be fascinating, even fun. How can even the best novelist or playwright invent someone like Augustus Caesar or Catherine the Great, Galileo or Florence Nightingale? How can screenwriters create better action stories or human dramas than exist, thousand upon thousand, throughout the many centuries of recorded history? There is a thirst out there both for knowledge and to be entertained, and the market has responded with enthusiasm." in the context of "Margaret MacMillan, The Uses and Abuses of History (2008)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Augustus" (About Augustus) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Augustus

About Augustus

Imperator Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus Augustus (23 September 63 BC – 19 August 14), born Gaius Octavius, was the adopted son of Julius Caesar and the first Roman Emperor. He also became a pontiff and later Pontifex Maximus.