In the context of ten thousand years, I thought, what did Filmer and his sins matter? Yet all we had was here and now, and here and now was always where the struggle toward goodness had to be fought. Toward virtue, morality, uprightness, order: call it what one liked. A long, ever-recurring battle.
The passage reflects on the insignificance of past struggles, like those of Filmer, when considered against the vast timeline of ten thousand years. It emphasizes that despite the weight of history, the present moment remains the focal point of our efforts to achieve goodness and moral integrity.
In this view, the ongoing fight for virtue and order is a continuous challenge that individuals must face. It suggests that while history may seem distant, the commitment to living rightly must be pursued in the here and now, making our present actions crucial in the larger narrative of humanity's moral journey.
