The man who has no sense of history is like a man with no ears or eyes.

[bachophile]

Ahh I think the issue is a certain Austrian was being quoted. Not to invoke Godwins law, but there a bit of a problem here

[bachophile]

https://www.scrolldroll.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Adolf-Hitler-Quotes-7.jpg

[89th]

Holy crap everyone is so sensitive these days.

[Mik]

It's a teaching moment, sez I. A very good example of self-fulfilling prophecy.

Plus, it's history.

[Mik]

I mean, if it was anti-semitic stuff, I could see the objection. But that?

[LuFins Dad]

So absolutely everything and anything that he said is verboten?

[Horace]

I am sure he used lots of wisdom from history to fashion his genocidal regime out of righteous groupthink and dehumanizing of the evil others. That's how societies expanded, before we decided it was unthinkably barbaric.

[George K]

Beethoven was a real asshole who stole his nephew from the rightful mother. We should stop listening to his music.

[Renauda]

@George-K

True, Beethoven’s behaviour towards others was for the most part, unpardonable and horrible. Still, quite unlike the Austrian corporal, he didn’t start a world war or set in motion a genocide that led to the murder of 6 million people because of their race and religion.

So yeah, I would agree that quoting Hitler for inspiration is wholly inappropriate no matter how innocuous the platitude might appear in isolation. Hitler, like Stalin and Mao, are really in a sinister league of tyrants all of their own in history.

Better to quote George Santayana who wrote:

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” …

Sure it’s less populist and folksy, but it presents the same message and lesson without conjuring the personality and ideology of pure evil.

[Axtremus]

George Santayana’s quote is better.
Hitler’s analogy makes no sense anyway.