GREAT ARTICLE! and it certainly puts things into perspective!

Funny thing “death”. Not too many people find it amusing though.

Two sure things in life; death and taxes.

Those Who Seek Death Shall Live, Those Who Seek Life Shall Die.
(Deserters will be shot)!

Dan

The art of having fun, of seeking humour within and outside ourselves, culminating in that most ridiculous of human activities, laughter, seems to be anathema to living a life to be proud of.

And stoicism does not appear to be any fun at all. Like the previous 30 or so months, the Covid 19 pandemic very soon drained dry most of humankind's reserve of shared humour

There is a certain comfort to be drawn from the reality that human history is redolent with philosophies on life. Though each will present a perspective of a kind, they are too numerous for each of them to be tested in one human life time.

Albert Einstein's admonition (and I paraphrase) "Try to become not so much a person of success but a person of value." This, plus the Golden Rule, while seeming barely adequate, has stood many tests and trials to which the latter's longevity will attest.

Since humankind's assiduous and imaginative use of captured electricity, the popularity of stoicism as a way of life has found little favour. Whereas, over the millennia of human history measured by reference to aspects of religious faith, stoicism seems to have thrived and was made a sacred estate (with a few notable exceptions).

It might be more profitable at the beginning of the third millennium to heed the admonition of Alexander Pope (1688-1744) "The proper study of mankind is man." but with a purpose firmly fixed on the future. There lie the problems humankind must face. Our record of such problem solving this far has been dismal and sorrowful. It's time right now to close off the "Before" column and begin creating entries worthy of inclusion in an "After" column.