"Study the past if you would define the future." The Analects of Confucius

Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world. Studies in Pessimism

This thou must always bear in mind, what is the nature of the whole... Book II

Rational behavior ... depends upon a ceaseless flow of data from the environment. It depends upon the power of the individual to predict, with at least a fair success, the outcome of his own actions. To do this, he must be able to predict how the environment will respond to his acts. Sanity, itself, thus hinges on man's ability to predict his immediate, personal future on the basis of information fed him by the environment. Future Shock