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I was reminded of it by reading this from Norbert Wiener:

We are swimming upstream against a great torrent of disorganization, which tends to reduce everything to the heat death of equilibrium and sameness. … This heat death in physics has a counterpart in the ethics of Kierkegaard, who pointed out that we live in a chaotic moral universe. In this, our main obligation is to establish arbitrary enclaves of order and system. … Like the Red Queen, we cannot stay where we are without running as fast as we can (Norbert Wiener, I Am a Mathematician: The Later Life of a Prodigy (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1964), 324; quoted by James Gleick in The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood (New York: Pantheon Books, 2011), 237).

A time is marked not so much by ideas that are argued about as by ideas that are taken for granted. The character of an era hangs upon what needs no defense.

C.S. Lewis in his Introduction to Sister Penelope Lawson’s translation of On the Incarnation by Athanasius wrote:

Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books.

Lewis’s advice to read the old books is good, and it is advice that I follow. It occurs to me, however, that in addition to books from the past, I would like to read books from the future. Those might be even better at correcting our blind spots.

I am the Master of my fate;
I am the Captain of my soul.

Risk taker;
Nurturer.

Helped his wife
grow from tentative young lady
to powerful, self-confident woman.

Pours out love
to his children;
does his duty no matter what.

Regular as sunrise.

Courage!
King of his life.

Makes decisions:
with his life-long love and
in solitude and silence.
Carries them through,
unflinching.

Nurtures
family, friends,
colleagues of every position
the flowers and the fruits thereof.
Teacher, Mentor to every Telemachos;
loyal friend.

Formed filled with pietas:
filial, marital, paternal, patriotic.

Knowing every person with full acceptance.
Body, emotion, intellect, and kindness
serve intuition.

Mind most orderly
yet interlaced with fantasy and humor.

Lover of Nature,
he found her beneath stones of New York City

as in tree and field.

Self-reliant.

Athlete
transformed painful disease
into poetry
accepting a teacher’s gift.

Learning from every moment,
He transformed disaster into opportunity.

Steadfast, the nerdy-looking athlete-poet
married the most beautiful girl in the world.

Boy-man who always knew what he wanted
was ready to pay the price.

Generous man
hard to say no.

So much to say;
hard to say it.

Full of wisdom;
fewer words as life goes on.

Lover of poetry;
tangle-tongued.

Integrity,
Honor.

All of one piece
the same to everyone.

Struggle for integrity
against drive for perfection.

Honor
profound kindness
wise teacher of those who would listen.

Always to be able
to look self in eyes in the mirror
straight into the eyes
of every other person’s self.

World-saving generation
Patriot
Sadness grows
as world repeats all mistakes
beloved country
sinks beneath waves of arrogance and false pride
while talking humility.

Knight of integrity,
self-ennobled.

Appreciator of beauty
self-taught connoisseur
always learning
beauty in new forms.

World-wide view,
as if from a great height,
feet on the ground.

Anxiety and performance.
Envision, plan, and execute.

King, giver
of blessing.

Music love
human voice,
voices.

Lover of grandchildren
Noble Patriarch

Dad