It was the best of times it was the worst of times
it was the age of wisdom it was the age of foolishness
it was the epoch of belief it was the epoch of incredulity
it was the season of Light it was the season of Darkness
it was the spring of hope it was the winter of despair
we had everything before us we had nothing before us
we were all going direct to Heaven we were all going direct the other way
in short the period was so far like the present period
that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received
for good or for evil in the superlative degree of comparison only