From the Other Shore

"The fall of the sciences seems to me not only possible, but even inevitable, even near. And when they fall; when their magnificent edifice collapses, when the beneficial lamps are extinguished—what will happen? I am horrified and feel a tremor in my heart. Let us suppose that some sparks are saved under the ashes; let us suppose that some people find them and light their quiet, solitary huts with them—but what will become of the world?

"I cover my face!

"Has the human race reached the extreme limit of possible enlightenment in our time and must it once again plunge into barbarism and once again, little by little, emerge from it, like the stone of Sisyphus a figure from Greek mythology condemned to roll a boulder up a hill for eternity, which, having been carried to the top of the mountain, rolls down by its own weight and is again carried up the mountain by the hand of the eternal laborer? — A sad image!

"Now it seems to me as if history itself proves the probability of this opinion. We barely know the names of the ancient Asian peoples and kingdoms, but from some historical fragments, one can think that these peoples were not barbarians. . . . . Kingdoms were destroyed, peoples vanished, from their dust new tribes were born, born in the twilight, in the glimmer, they were in their infancy, learning and becoming famous. Perhaps the aeons vast periods of time plunged into eternal