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“Sich besinnen” has two possible meanings: to reflect and to remember. This is no coincidence, since to reflect on something also means measuring my present on the scale of my past. Memory is, of course, important in this, and so is forgetting. When learning from memory (that is what history is), it would be much more important to learn wisdom than facts. And forgetfulness is also important because holding on to grievances leads to new grievances. In 1871, a young French doctor watched in shock as Prussian soldiers committed atrocities in his beloved Paris. He decided to take revenge on the Germans one day. His name was Georges Benjamin Clemenceau. Echoing Nietzsche, Spengler later writes the following in The Decline of the West. In this book is attempted for the first time the venture of predetermining history, of following the still untravelled stages in the destiny of a Culture, and specifically of the only Culture of our time and on our planet which is actually in the phase of fulfilment - the West-Europe an-American. (Spengler 1927.p.3.) And the final conclusion is not very favorable. Humanity keeps committing the very same mistakes that they did before. According to Hegel, we can learn one thing from the past: that humans never learn from it. If there was something to be learned from remembering, this is the most painful part. It is impossible to forgive. This is what it relates to, even though the “other” and the “different” have always been among us and always will be, whether we like it or not. This can be as alien, guest, or even enemy. Just like us.
