The destruction was as much moral as political. Thucydides describes an Athens in which “[w]ords had to change their ordinary meaning and to take that which was now given them. Reckless audacity came to be considered the courage of a loyal ally; prudent hesitation, specious cowardice.”

The more things change, the more things stay the same.  So Thucydides describes…

“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wise people so full of doubts.”
— Bertrand Russell

“The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.”
— W.B. Yeats

We’re Doomed.

At first I thought it was interesting that two thinkers from two disparate times had similar thoughts.  But then I googled it.  Russell and Yeats were both born around the same time.  So their expressing the same idea could be the zeitgeist of the time.

Or maybe it’s a re-occurring theme throughout Man’s existence?  Is there ever a time when wise men are not full of doubt and fools certain of themselves?