About the Author

George Santayana (1863–1952) was a Spanish born philosopher, poet, essayist, and novelist who was raised largely in Boston and became a celebrated professor at Harvard before spending his later life in Europe. He made major contributions to aesthetics, pragmatism, and cultural criticism through works such as The Sense of Beauty, The Life of Reason, and the novel The Last Puritan. He is best remembered for his aphorism, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” and for his elegant reflections on human nature, tradition, and civilization. His view of the family as “one of nature’s masterpieces” reflects his belief that enduring human institutions grow from deep natural instincts and help shape the moral and emotional life of society.