The Charm of Long-term History

Once, I came across a hilarious joke. I remember some of it: The success of life is … you do not find a picture of yourself hung on the wall when you are a hundred years old but in three hundred years. The first half implies longevity, and the second half means you are remembered by future generations. Why in three hundred years? Don’t we always advocate that we must observe closely and analyze with a magnifying glass or microscope? Don’t we emphasize the importance of firsthand experience? Does it mean this is not enough? This seems to indicate that it is harder to see things clearly when you are too close. In other words, microscopic observation, no matter how subtle, is no substitute for macroscopic judgment! Three hundred years put us far away enough to evaluate the person from a more macroscopic point of view so that we can determine his or her historical status more accurately.