Hubris

A foolish and pitiful child it is that hears its mothers warning, ignores it, is burnt by the fire and then turns its anger towards the mother.

Every man or woman who has risen to the ranks of history's eminent; Tolstoy, Augustus, Dickens, Catherine the Great, Boudicea, Churchill, Hitler, Shakespeare, whether benevolent or malevolent, they are but dust now. Yes, influence had they and power unadulterated but when faced with eternity, what conqueror dare speak? What playwright or poet or monarch, leader or tyrant, dare to speculate?
Hubris; what poison.