#i'm well aware of my ancestors' lives and it wasn't pleasant

[philippagordon]

"I wonder," said Miss Oliver, "if humanity will be any happier because of aeroplanes. It seems to me that the sum of human happiness remains much the same from age to age, no matter how it may vary in distribution, and that all the many inventions neither lessen nor increase it."

- Rilla of Ingleside

#rilla of Ingleside #lm montgomery #anne of green gables #quotes #i love this quote so much #i cried the first time i read this chapter #i mean of course we shouldn't glorify the past #i'm well aware of my ancestors' lives and it wasn't pleasant #i'm also very glad to not be dying of tuberculosis at 21 #but i still think our current situation is far from being good #and when i read great books like aogg or the secret garden to name a few #that were written a long time ago but are still beautiful #i can't help thinking there must have been sth there #why can't we keep the good from the past while we move forward in the present? #everytime we had debates about progress at uni people would tell me #'but you can't stop progress' #and i would just think 'how long are we going to say that?' #we're definitely not making progress right now were running straight into a wall #anyway not to be fake deep but i think miss oliver is right #you can make all the inventions in the world #it won't replace the bonds between people #and that's what makes us happy at the end of the day