It's my belief that history is a wheel. Inconstancy is my very essence, says the wheel. Rise up on my spokes if you like but don't complain when you're cast back down into the depths. Good times pass away, but then so do the bad. Mutability is our tragedy, but it's also our hope. The worst of times, like the best, are always passing away.

-Boethius (Anicius Manlius Severinus), The Consolation of Philosophy