Recent Progress on Obstetrics and Gynecology [antikvár]

FAREWELL TO THE 20'" CENTURY AND REPRODUCTIVE ILL-HEALTH. (DEDICATED TO PROFESSOR ISTVÁN GÁTI ON THE OCCASION OF HIS 75™ BIRTHDAY) E. Diczfalusy Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Sedfugit interea, fugit inrepambile tempus. Vergilius, Georgica II. 1. Introduction, or what happens at the age of 75 ? „At fifty you begin to be tired of the world, and at sixty the world is tired of you" wrote Axel Oxenstierna early in the 1?"' century; if it is so, what can one expect at the age of 75? Are we by then „ freed from servile bands, Of hope to rise, or fear to fail" to use the words of Sir Henry Wotton (1568-1639)? Are we by then indeed Jenseits von Gut und Böse", as Nietzsche wants us to believe, or is this all only a big illusion and the good and evil of human nature just don't change with age? „L'ambition ne vieillit pas", ambition doesn't age, wrote Louis XVIII to Talleyrand; maybe not, but I am convinced that it does change direction. At 75, time becomes an extremely precious commodity, one would like to economize with it as much as possile, there is still so much to do and assist others. However, the fundamental problem remains unresolved; we don't know how to handle our age, those 75 years. Chamfort was right: we arrive as beginners to every age in life („L'homme arrive novice ä chaque age de la vie"). In his Maxims, Mark Twain remarks ironically that „At 50 a man can be an ass without being an optimist but not an optimist without being an ass" and - of course - he knew very well that he was „provocative". Today, more than ever, humankind does need a vision of its future, and in order to be fruitful, a vision must necessarily be an optimistic one. „A people without history is not redeemed from time, for history is a pattern of timeless moments" says T.S. Eliot in