"WHAT IS PAST IS PROLOGUE" are words written by "The Bard," William Shakespeare. His character Antonio said them in Act 2, Scene 1 of a Shakespeare play, The Tempest.
You'll also find these immortal words engraved above the entrance to the National Bureau of Archives in Washington, D. C. Dr. Mardy Grothe shows how much the past is, in fact, prologue in his new book of historical quotations entitled, Deconstructing Trump: The Trump Phenomenon Through the Lens of Quotation History.
What Grothe has done is a lot of solid research and he presents a thousand quotations from history's greatest thinkers, writers, and political leaders. What would they say about the current occupant of the White House? While none of the featured quotations mention the 45th president by name, they all have a collective Trump-illuminating quality that is often startling. If you, like me, are in need of a little "Trump therapy," as the author terms it, a dose of this book may be just what you need. I know I did.
An eloquent example is this one: "As democracy is perfected, the office [of the U. S. president] represents more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." That from the late newspaper columnist and social/political commentator, H. L. Mencken in The Baltimore Evening Sun.
Over the years, I've purchased a number of books by Dr. Grothe, including Ifferisms: An anthology of aphorisms that begin with the word IF and I Never Metaphor I Didn't Like: a compilation of history's greatest analogies, metaphors, and similies.
Incidentally, Mardy is a North Dakota native and a University of North Dakota graduate in psychology. What called my attention to his Trump book was an interview with the author conducted by Doug Hamilton on Prairie Public Radio's Main Street Program. You can hear that interview by clicking here.
