Some people collect stamps, or cookie jars, or Disney kitsch, or Faberge eggs. I collect two things: books, and quotations from people who are (or were) obviously possessed of greater wisdom and insight than I could ever hope to claim.

I’m taking a day off from writing today, but rather than leave a calendar page empty on my blog, I thought I would simply share with you a quote I stumbled across recently. It is so relevant to today’s world that it was shocking to me to learn who had written it, and when. And no, it is not from a work by Shakespeare, though it sounds like it might have been; in fact, it’s much older even than that. It is simply this:

“So many wars, so many shapes of crime! . . .
Unholy Mars bends all to his mad will;
The world is like a chariot run wild . . .”

Virgil (70-19 B.C.E.), The Aeneid

Yes, it was penned more than two millennia ago, by a Roman poet who likely knew nothing of the planets, but made reference to Mars, the god of war. Clearly, he understood the state of the world he lived in. Little did he imagine, though, that 2,000 years later his words would still describe a much larger, more populous, supposedly more civilized world. Those twenty centuries, despite our remarkable scientific and technological discoveries and inventions, have taught us nothing . . . nothing about the value of peace, or understanding, or tolerance. Tragically, the warlike nature of mankind remains unaltered.

Only the weapons have changed.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/22/24