Economic man and sensual man are not suppressible. - Barbara W. Tuchman

In the midst of events there is no perspective.

The ills and disorders of the 14th century could not be without consequence. Times were to grow worse over the next fifty-odd years until at some imperceptible moment, by the some mysterious chemistry, energies were refreshed, ideas broke out of the mold of the Middle Ages into new realms, and humanity found itself redirected.

Nothing is more certain than death and nothing uncertain but its hour.