Jose Mujica refers to Santayana’s most famous quotation

We usually think that the new media are away from philosophy. Take a look at the very popular interview these days on Youtube. Ex-president of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, known as the ‘poorest president’ talking about life and consumption, is quoting Santayana: “you must remember the past or be condemned to repeat it.” The original version reads: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (Santayana, The Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense. Scribner’s, 1905: 284). Interestingly, this quote, although in a back-translation form, is present on a plaque at the Auschwitz concentration camp: “The one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again.”