It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wis­dom, it was the age of fool­ish­ness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the sea­son of Light, it was the sea­son of Dark­ness, it was the spring of hope, it was the win­ter of despair, we had every­thing before us, we had noth­ing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its nois­i­est author­i­ties insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superla­tive degree of com­par­i­son only.

- Charles Dick­ens, A Tale of Two Cities