new people put a little dry wood under a pot, and are whirled round the globe with the speed of birds, in a way to kill old people, as the phrase is

Question

Old people did not know enough once, per- chance, to fetch fresh fuel to keep the fire a-going; new people put a little dry wood under a pot, and are whirled round the globe with the speed of birds, in a way to kill old people, as the phrase is. Age is no better, hardly so well, qualified for an instructor as youth, for it has not profited so much as it has lost. One may almost doubt if the wisest man has learned anything of absolute value by living.

Actually, I can't understand the whole paragraph except the first and the last sentence. Could you tell me what the writer has said. Or how to get a stronger ability of comprehension when you know each meaning of word?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

rpshCould you tell me what the writer has said?

Not exactly. This was written more than 150 years ago, and the language has changed since then. In particular, the author uses "in a way to kill old people, as the phrase is". Well, that may have been the phrase then, but it's not a phrase you'll hear today. It's hard to know exactly what expression is being referred to because we no longer have whatever expression it was. You'd have to be a specialist in nineteenth-century American literature to understand some of this author's writings.

I'd say that the main reference is to the very earliest days of mankind, when fire was just discovered, and then later, cooking. I don't know what is referred to by "whirled around the globe with the speed of birds" except that it could mean that a good idea will spread far and quickly.

CJ

Rpsh · Answer

Thank you! I'll continue to do my learning.

new people put a little dry wood under a pot, and are whirled round the globe with the speed of birds, in a way to kill old people, as the phrase is

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