“We should look towards the future, but with a wisdom we gained
from the past”
Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, 13
September 2013
“We should look towards the future, but with a wisdom we gained from the past” is a savvy and powerful phrase said by Jose Manuel Barroso in 2013. It encourages us to look forward to the future and to our future society. However, it still reminds us of our horrific mistakes done in the past. It emphasizes the meaning of learning from our mistakes while going forward.
We’ve gained knowledge and wisdom from the past, along with numerous mistakes. The key factor in improving is to fail. Failure helps us evaluate our strengths and weaknesses, in addition, it forces us to learn. Moreover, our lives are dependent on learning. Barroso’s phrase points at the learning process and it contains the fact that we can’t make those same mistakes over and over again.
With the information we have, we can invent and discover advanced innovations. Therefore, we roughly know what works and what needs improvement. That gives us an opportunity to look towards the future and anticipate the upcoming struggles that the future holds.
We can have lofty goals for the future of our society and environment. Barroso’s expression describes a mindset where we aren’t afraid of changes and are eager to face the future. We are confident, ambitious and more aware of the possible setbacks. In the society we live in, a lot of rapid changes happen and we can’t control them.
In conclusion, Barraro’s phrase has an important meaning behind it. We can’t take our past difficulties and successes for granted. We need to appreciate those experiences and use them in our favor in the future.
Elina Aarnisalo