We cannot prove that those are in error who tell us that society has
reached a turning point, that we have seen our best days. But so said
all before us, and with just as much reason. On what principle is
it that, When we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to
expect nothing but deterioration before us?
-- Lord Thomas Babington (1800-1859)
We are afraid of truth, afraid of fortune, afraid of death, and afraid
of each other. Our age yields no great and perfect persons. We want men
and women who shall renovate life and our social state but we see that
most natures are insolvent, cannot satisfy their own wants, have an
ambition out of all proportion to their practical force, and so do lean
and beg day and night continually....