“For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.”
The observation that wise and fool alike will be forgotten, their names disappearing into oblivion as if they never existed, introduces the temporal dimension of futility: even the effects and memory of wisdom vanish. The permanent erasure of human achievement and accomplishment, including intellectual achievement, from the memory of future generations represents perhaps the deepest form of vanity. Yet this very recognition of futility paradoxically creates the condition for a different kind of value: if nothing lasts, then the present moment's simple goods—food, drink, companionship—gain a poignant significance.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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