The night of time far surpasseth the day, and who knows when was the ?quinox?
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The vastness of the past outweighs the present, and we cannot fully comprehend the turning points of history.
- In plain terms
- History is much longer than now, and we do not know all its changes.
- What can you take from it?
- Respect the depth of the past beyond what you see today.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What parts of history remain truly unknown?
- How does the past shape your view of the present?
Another view
It assumes time has a linear structure that may not hold in all contexts.
More from Sir Thomas Browne
Oblivion is not to be hired: The greater part must be content to be as though they had not been, to be found in the Register of God, not in the record of man.
Permalink to quote #48 Darkness and light divide the course of time, and oblivion snares with memory, a great part even of our living beings; we slightly remember our felicities, and…
Permalink to quote #50 Who knows whether the best of men be known? or whether there be not more remarkable persons forgot, than any that stand remembered in the known account of time…
Permalink to quote #47
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