Gotta Love It

The Devil is Among Us. I have proof.

I spend an awful lots of time trolling the internet for inspiration and quotes to use in my work associated writing. Since the turn of the calendar to the new decade, and the rising fever around 2012 and the end of the Mayan Calendar (did it occur to anyone that the Mayans might have just run out of room?), I've been looking for thoughts on the end of all time, and the Millenial and doomsday movements of past . . . well um. . . Millenia. There have been prognostications of doom and gloom before now and one of the 19th century ones - the Millerite movement - spawned the Seventh Day Adventist religion. Another case of making lemonade. Miller was wrong not only once, but twice, but managed to turn the "Great Disappointment" into a religion. I gotta try that the next time I'm wrong in a big way. Now, given the fine line between quotes and inspiration and plagiarism, I declined to put this bloggy quote from Willow Manor to any work related use, but it was just too good to not share. .

Here's the account, according to the History of Carroll County,
Indiana by Thomas Helms, Chicago: Kingman Brothers, 1882.

One morning in April, 1848, John Payton rode by Hanna's farm
and saw him setting out an orchard. The inconsistency of his
preceding at once struck Payton, who elected that a number of
years must elapse, in any event, before he could expect any
return of his labor, and if the final destruction of the world were
so nearly at hand, was not his an unnecessary outlay of labor?

With this in mind, Payton addressed him:

"How is this, Brother Hanna? This is April, and if your
account is correct, the end of the world will come in
June next. It scarcely looks consistent to be doing
such work so nearly the borders of eternity."

"Oh well", replied Hanna, "we can't tell exactly; there
may have been an error in the calculation."