“Why do I hear a note of sadness that wrings my heart in this cry of a pure soul?" Seagull

That which comes after ever conforms to that which has gone before. Book IV

“Habit is the intersection of knowledge (what to do), skill (how to do), and desire (want to do).” The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People

In fact, one of the main lesson to be learned from the collapses of the Maya, Anasazi, Easter Islanders, and those other past societies (as well as from the recent collapse of the Soviet Union) is that a society's steep decline may begin only a decade or two after the society reaches its peak numbers, wealth, and power. [...] The reason is simple: maximum population, wealth, resource consumption, and waste production mean maximum environmental impact, approaching the limit where impact outstrips resources. On reflection, it's no surprise that declines of societies tend to follow swiftly on their peaks. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed