George Orwell on Seeing the Future

All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.

[George Orwell]

Image of an Emperor: Tiberius

"In person he was heavy-set and powerful, of a stature above the average, broad in the shoulders and chest, and the rest of his body of congruent proportions. His left hand was stronger and more nimble than his right; and his joints were so strong, that he could bore a fresh, sound apple through with his finger ... His complexion was fair, and he wore his hair so long behind that it covered his neck; which was observed to be the fashion affected by his family. His face was ingenious and well-favoured, but was often covered in pimples. His eyes, which were large, had a marvelous faculty for seeing in the night time, and in the dark ... He walked with his neck held stiff and upright, and with a countenance somewhat severe. For the most part he was silent; when he spoke with those about him, it was very slowly, and usually accompanied with a slight gesticulation of the fingers. ... He enjoyed excellent health through his whole reign; though from the thirtieth year of his age, he preserved it by his own efforts, without any counsel from physicians."

[Suetonius, Tiberius, 68]