Nothing matters much and in the end nothing matters at all

Now why did that remark suddenly brighten my day? Oh yes, because I'm feeling angry and sad over exams...

A friend of mine likes to quote this remark, by A. J. Balfour, probably the only intellectual ever to be Prime Minister of Britain. The interesting thing is that although he agrees with it himself he doesn't at all like the idea of having a prime minister who agreed with it. I think this may be a common attituide, so I thought i'd check.

Interesting question. In the long run we're all dead, as Keynes said, so what happens to the world after we're gone and buried (and hopefully gone to heaven ) shouldn't bother us too much, which does mean that what you fought for generally doesn't mean much. However, we have desendants and the rest of the human race after us, so what we do will affect their lives and history, so what we do does matter in the end.

However, we have desendants and the rest of the human race after us, so what we do will affect their lives and history, so what we do does matter in the end.

No because like you quoted in the lr we're all dead - therefore doesn't matter (all used to describe humanity btw)

"History repeats itself because nobody listens"

OK...and?

If there is no chance of a solution to a problem, is there any point trying to solve it? Think on that.

How do you find out that there isn't a soluttion except by trying to solve it? Most practical problems- unlike ohilosophical problems- can be broken down into many smaller sub-problems, some of which may well be solvable.

But our actions affect those who come after us, so it does matter what we do.

"History repeats itself because nobody listens"

Well, Balfour's uncle was the Marquess of Salisbury- the original "Bob's your uncle."- so called because he put Balfour and all his other relations into the cabinet when he was PM. The idea was that if- as Balfour did- you came from the right sort of family, then you ran the country- and the empire- as a sort of part-time obligation.