| Surprise your pig ( @ 2008-09-02 02:01:00 |
Seneca
If these were Seneca's sentiments over two thousand years ago, I can't imagine what he would think, living in today's world.
"How long
shall we covet and oppress, enlarge our possessions,
and account that too little for one man,
which was formerly enough for a nation? and
our luxury is as insatiable as our avarice. Where
is that lake, that sea, that forest, that spot of
land, that is not ransacked to gratify our palate?
The very earth is burdened with our buildings;
not a river, nor a mountain escapes us. Oh that
there should be such boundless desires in our
little bodies! would not fewer lodgings serve us?
We lie but in one, and where we are not, that is
not properly ours. What with our hooks, snares,
nets, dogs, we are at war with all living
creatures; and nothing comes amiss, but that
which is either too cheap, or too common; and
all this to gratify a fantastical palate. Our
avarice, our ambition, our lusts, are insatiable;
we enlarge our possessions, swell our families, we
rifle sea and land for matter of ornament and
luxury. A bull contents himself with one meadow,
and one forest is enough for a thousand elephants,
but the little body of a man devours more
than all other living creatures. We do not eat
to satisfy hunger, but ambition; we are dead
while we are alive; and our houses are so much
our tombs, that a man might write our epitaphs
upon our very doors."
If these were Seneca's sentiments over two thousand years ago, I can't imagine what he would think, living in today's world.
"How long
shall we covet and oppress, enlarge our possessions,
and account that too little for one man,
which was formerly enough for a nation? and
our luxury is as insatiable as our avarice. Where
is that lake, that sea, that forest, that spot of
land, that is not ransacked to gratify our palate?
The very earth is burdened with our buildings;
not a river, nor a mountain escapes us. Oh that
there should be such boundless desires in our
little bodies! would not fewer lodgings serve us?
We lie but in one, and where we are not, that is
not properly ours. What with our hooks, snares,
nets, dogs, we are at war with all living
creatures; and nothing comes amiss, but that
which is either too cheap, or too common; and
all this to gratify a fantastical palate. Our
avarice, our ambition, our lusts, are insatiable;
we enlarge our possessions, swell our families, we
rifle sea and land for matter of ornament and
luxury. A bull contents himself with one meadow,
and one forest is enough for a thousand elephants,
but the little body of a man devours more
than all other living creatures. We do not eat
to satisfy hunger, but ambition; we are dead
while we are alive; and our houses are so much
our tombs, that a man might write our epitaphs
upon our very doors."