Those who forget history are forced to relive it, first as tragedy, then as farce.

There are people in this world who like to run away from certain things in their lives. Whether, it be a person, an event that significantly effected them, or a place that they want to get away from. When people choose to forget who they are or leave a part of their past behind without closure, it tends to catch up with them, almost like karma in a way. "Those who forget history are forced to relive it, first as a tragedy, then as a farce"; In other words, people who end up facing their past for whatever reason are first regretful or sad by what their history had brought to them. However, after they have faced it, and learned to deal with and overcome it, they begin to look at their past in a different light. This is where the farce comes in. For example, if something embarrassing has happened to someone in the past they're ashamed for a while, but not long after that they begin to get over it and learn to laugh at themselves. Over time one learns to live with their past and learn from the mistakes they have made. Reliving a part of history is kind of a way of finding oneself. Someone could go through all their experiences and figure out how they've been affected and how they felt at various times in their past. This would allow one to become more aware of the type of person they are, what they like and what they don't, how much they can handle before they break, etc. As stated before, once one is more familiar with who they are, the easier it is to look back on their history and laugh and know that all those experiences were what made them who they are today.