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December    12th

THE BEAT    GOES    ON

“Walk   the long    gallery of  the past,   of  empires and kingdoms    succeeding  each    other   without

number. And you can also    see the future, for surely  it  will    be  exactly the same,   unable  to  deviate

from    the present rhythm. It’s    all one whether we’ve   experienced forty   years   or  an  aeon.   What

more    is  there   to  see?”

—MARCUS AURELIUS,   MEDITATIONS,    7.49

ll things die. Not just people but companies, kingdoms, religions, and ideas—eventually. The Roman
Republic lasted 450 years. The Roman Empire, of which Marcus Aurelius was considered to be one
of the “five good emperors,” lasted 500 years. The longest recorded life of a human being is 122 years.
The average life expectancy in the United States is a little over seventy-eight years. In other countries, in
other eras, it has been more and it has been less. But in the end, we all succumb, as Marcus said, to the
rhythm of events—of which there is always a final, determined beat. There is no need to dwell on this
fact, but there is no point in ignoring it either.