In general, life is better than it ever has been, and if you think that, in the past, there was some golden age of pleasure and plenty to which you would, if you were able, transport yourself, let me say one single word: “dentistry” - PJ O'Rourke, All the Trouble in the World

This article is a sort of round-up of passages from various writers to the effect that things are better now - at least in some important ways - than they used to be.

“Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” – Peter Tosh

We’re a culture of babies. Our knowledge has been sprinting upward on an exponential curve, but our wisdom sighs and chuffs up a modest incline, pausing frequently for a deep fried snack and a nap. We don’t mind the planned obsolescence of new gadgetry; it gives us an excuse to upgrade to that snazzy newer version everyone else already has. We know our clothes come from sweatshops and our meat comes from factory farms, and these things are terrible, and someone should really do something about them. But we still want cheap food and clothes. Because we’re used to them. And we like them. And we want more. Because we’ve got a serious infection of narcissism.

“...when we get among masterpieces, we find that (the protagonist) tends to become no more than a function of his environment, a convenient symbol for representing and explaining that environment.” - HL Mencken