I think there is a lot of benefit to the view that civilizations do not last forever any more than people live forever. There's so much less recrimination that

I think there is a lot of benefit to the view that civilizations do not last forever any more than people live forever. There's so much less recrimination that way, sure we might have squeezed out an extra century if we'd been better, but the important thing is recognizing where we are and doing what's appropriate to that era. And call me crazy, but from that perspective I rather like living in the late autumn of a civilization, there's just so much to do. So much to harvest, so much to put away, in storage and in memory. It's a crazy triage of artifacts so overwhelming in number and splendor that I feel like weeping with gratitude.