"We have been conditioned to believe that it is normal for things to come to an end, that sooner or later they are bound to start falling apart until they collapse.
As though endeavours and civilisations were meant to follow the same life cycle as living bodies, when in fact, if well managed, they shoud last indefinitely, maintaining their high standards, just as a bridge stretches out supported by its arches, one after the other.
So it is passed off to us as normal and inevitable that everything follows a parabolic curve, in which it first rises and then falls.
If you like, this state of affairs is also described in greater detail in the following quotation, the attribution of which is uncertain:
"Hard times make strong men; strong men make for easy times; easy times make weak men; weak men make for hard times."
Well, not only it is neither normal nor inevitable that everything follows that parabolic curve, not only it is neither normal nor inevitable that easy times make weak men, but both these phenomena also have specific causes."
That's likely to be news.
It better should.
And the news is in the corresponding solution the above words are taken from:
