Having now gone through the discontinuity, we're about to come out as America again. History is the history of our civilization. American civilization is a way of being. It's like Zen. There's an American exceptionalism that can best be understood through history.
History is a resource to be learned from and used.
It's cheaper to imitate than to invent. There are techniques you can learn from historical experience that can help you solve problems. Go find somebody you know who's already solved it, and ask them to teach you. His father was Woodruff's chauffeur. Yeah, he's a chauffeur for one of the most successful business leaders in American history.