There was a time in the ancient world - a very long time - in which the central cultural problem must have seemed an inexhaustible outpouring of books. Where to put them all? How to organize them on the groaning shelves? How to hold the profusion of knowledge in one's head? The loss of this plenitude would have been virtually inconceivable to anyone living in its midst. Then, not all at once but with the cumulative force of a mass extinction, the whole enterprise came to an end. What looked stable turned out to be fragile, and what had seemed for all time was only for the time being. . Stephen Greenblatt
About This Quote

Civilization is a process of learning and growth. It is an ever-changing series of experiences that we learn from and pass down to future generations. Books were a big part of the process. The way we organize and store information was different in the past than it is today.

With people traveling and more books being published, we no longer need to physically store so much knowledge. As the world has changed and technology has improved, we have become better organized and more efficient at getting things done.

Source: The Swerve: How The World Became Modern

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