The melancholy of the antique world seems to me more profound than that of the moderns, all of whom more or less imply that beyond the dark void lies immortality. But for the ancients that ‘black hole’ is infinity itself; their dreams loom and vanish against a background of immutable ebony. No crying out, no convulsions–nothing but the fixity of the pensive gaze. With the gods gone, and Christ not yet come, there was a unique moment, from Cicero to Marcus Aurelius, when man stood alone. Nowhere else do I find that particular grandeur. Flaubert Gustave
About This Quote

The ancient world was a time of great sadness and loneliness. They did not believe in a life after death, but instead believed in a life with eternal punishment for the wicked. When they died, they were alone with their thoughts. The only thing that they could do was to sit and ponder on what they had done in their lives, or what they had left undone.

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  1. The melancholy of the antique world seems to me more profound than that of the moderns, all of whom more or less imply that beyond the dark void lies immortality. But for the ancients that ‘black hole’ is infinity itself; their dreams loom and vanish...
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