This is the excellent foppery of the world, that,
when we are sick in fortune, - often the surfeit
of our own behaviour, - we make guilty of
our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars: as
if we were villains by necessity; fools by
heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and
treachers, by spherical predominance; drunkards,
liars, and adulterers, by an enforced obedience of
planetary influence; and all that we are evil in,
by a divine thrusting on: an admirable evasion
of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish
disposition to the charge of a star!
Yesterday I listened to a conversation from the BBC's In Our Time regarding astrology. It was never definitely resolved between the moderator and discussants to what degree astrology still commands influence today. I agree that doctors no longer consult the positions of the planets prior to making prescriptions, but I would what the economic value of horoscopes on a daily basis merely in terms of daily paper space forgone.
My all-time favorite line about such matters is from Calvin and Hobbes, where Bill Watterson sarcastically speaks through Calvin:
"I decided I believe in astrology and horoscopes...It only makes sense that every facet of our daily lives should depend upon the position of celestial bodies hundreds of millions of miles away."
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