and one I've tried to inculcate in my students for most of my life: either one grows and changes, or one dies and decays. This applies, not only to the natural world and the cultural basis of a social group, but also to the individual. The best way I know to live is to stay active, open, and receptive to change: our greatest strength as a species is, after all, our mutability. In a way, it's the ultimate grief of the Spartans, that they didn't seem able to learn this. As Wolfe observed, you can't go home again; you can only move with the current... It's too bad the Spartans couldn't seem to do this.