There is logic as well as art...

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Cadzao  #552545  Fri, 08 Aug 08 03:44 PM
"Yet as we live we must continue to bet on education, on thought, as our only possible chance. We must bet on it even though as individuals we are apt to feel more helpless than ever before, since the fateful decisions involving life or death for hundreds of millions are still made by a few men, even in the democracies. We must bet because we all nevertheless are involved, and have our own decisions to make. In any event, there is logic as well as art in the convention that calls for a book on history to have a Conclusion, even if history itself doesn't. Although it is not my business to predict or plan the future, a book about the past inevitably contains a reference to the future." (Herbert J. Muller)

Could you please rephrase the blue sentence?

Thank you.

Cadzao
 
  
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Mr Wordy  #552640  Fri, 08 Aug 08 08:11 PM

The convention that a book about history should have a conclusion* is not only part of the art of good writing, but also makes logical sense. This is true even though history itself never reaches a conclusion (it just "goes on happening").

* A passage in which the author summarises what had been said and what it tells us -- in this case, presumably, with particular reference to what it tells us about the future.

  
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Cadzao  #552739  Sat, 09 Aug 08 03:46 AM
Thank you. Mr. Wordy, for your  help.

Cadzao
  
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