Eschatology

[dr_tectonic]

I ran across one of my favorite quotes today and wanted to preserve it here for reference. [This quote was apparently published in Asimov's Book of Facts in 1979; I'm not sure about its provenance beyond that.]

Behold:

"The Earth is degenerating today. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer obey their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching." --Assyrian clay tablet, ca. 2800 BC

Just remember that the next time you're angsting about elections or whatever.

(Although, I have to admit: as long as people continue to predict The End Of The World As We Know It, eventually somebody will be right...)

Comments

[0nce-and-future.livejournal.com]

"Goodness Gracious my grandma used to say
The world's a scary place now,
things were different in her day
What horrors will be commonplace
when my hair starts to grey?"

- Kevin Gilbert -

[zalena.livejournal.com]

My boss has this quotation as her signature. She attributes it to Cicero.

The world is always ending, it is also being reborn.

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

You know, I'm tempted to resurrect my .sig just to use that quote. Cool. :)

[arcticturtle.livejournal.com]

Years and years ago, I tracked this one down to somebody who admitted it was invented as a joke, much like the alleged Roman general's quote on reorganization.

I can't retrace my steps today, though. Snopes.com doesn't list it, and websearches just turn up a zillion people who use it as their .signature on Usenet. So I suppose I'm offering an urban legend that the quote is an urban legend.

Anyway, I do know that, from the mid-Republic era onward, there was always an abundance of Romans bewailing the decline in traditional Roman values, and predicting that it would spell the end of Rome. Bewailing the loss of traditional Roman values became, itself, a traditional Roman value. And they were right, of course, it just took a long time.