The most famous of those who
have supposedly been able to predict the future is a man named Nostradamus. He was a French apothecary (pharmacist) who published
several predictions within his lifetime (1506-1566). His popularity is evident
in that he is one of only a few authors whose work has rarely been out of print
for over four-hundred years. This is because many people believe that his
predictions have come true. They interpret his predictions in terms of what has
happened recently in our history. For example, they say one of his predictions
foretold the Challenger disaster in 1986 (it mentions nine people, when
seven were in the shuttle). Another, they say, foresaw the rise of Adolph
Hitler when it mentions “Hister” (really a location in Germany); and still
another, that he accurately predicted the terrorist attacks of September 11.
Nostradamus’s words, though, have been misinterpreted, so it seems like they
fit well with the events we’ve seen; but in truth, his words can at best be
loosely connected to those events.
I read part of a poem recently by one of my favorite poets. It reads: I envy not in any moods The captive void of noble rage The linnet born within the cage That never knew the summer woods. I envy not the beast that takes His license in the field of time Unfetter'd by the sense of crime To whom a conscience never wakes. Nor what may call itself as bles't The heart that never plighted troth But stagnates in the weeds of sloth Nor any want-begotten rest. I hold it true, whate'er befall I feel it, when I sorrow most 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. At base, Tennyson contrasted a life of risk, and consequent pain, with one of security. He sides conclusively with the life of risk, and says he fails to envy those who have faced no hardship. I agree with him; and, for good or ill, his words are just as relevant today as they were in the nineteenth century. Like then, there are those today who choose to live their lives with as little risk as...
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