The
following "Paradox of our Age" has been attributed to several people,
but actually written by Bob Moorhead. Dated 1995, from the book, Words
Aptly Spoken.
The paradox of our time in history is that we
have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but
narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but
enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more
conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more
knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more
medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too
much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too
angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV
too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years
to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We
conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things,
but not better things.
We've cleaned up the air, but polluted
the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write
more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned
to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more
information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less
and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow
digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow
relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce,
fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips,
disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight
bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It
is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the
stockroom.
