The-Conquest-of-Happiness-by-Bertrand-Russell

present moment is true. There have always been
many pessimists whenever there have been many
people whose income has diminished. Mr Krutch,
it is true, is an American, and American incomes,
on the whole, have been increased by the War, but
throughout the Continent of Europe the intellectual
classes have suffered terribly, while the War itself
gave everyone a sense of instability. Such social
causes have a great deal more to do with the mood
of an epoch than has its’ theory as to the nature of
the world. Few ages have been more despairing
than the thirteenth century, although that faith which
Mr Krutch so regrets was then firmly entertained
by everyone except the Emperor and a few great
Italian nobles. Thus Roger Bacon says: ‘For more
sins reign in these days of ours than in any past
age, and sin is incompatible with wisdom. Let us
see all conditions in the world, and consider them
diligently everywhere: we shall find boundless
corruption, and first of all in the Head … Lechery
dishonours the whole court, and gluttony is lord of
all … If then this is done in the Head, how is it in
the members? See the prelates: how they hunt after