“Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity; for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.” “Whatsoever thy hand findest to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”[343] The wisdom of Solomon was to enjoy this life as much as possible, since man is unable to solve the problem of the goal of life. His precepts have been taken as a guide, and have led to an organisation of life that could only become more and more epicurean. As soon as the goal of life has been seen clearly, luxury ceases to be true happiness as it hinders the making perfect of the normal cycle of human life. Young people, instead of abandoning themselves to all the pleasures because they have nothing before them but a sad prospect of morbid old age and death, ought to make ready for physiological old age and natural death. The apprenticeship certainly will be long. In our time the years of study already last much longer than occurred even a century ago. As the body of knowledge grows greater, the time to acquire it will become prolonged, but this period of preparation will serve as the prelude to ripe maturity and ideal old age. Old age is repulsive at present, because it is an old age devoid of its true meaning, full of egoism, narrowness of view, incapacity and malignancy. The physiological old age of the future assuredly will be very different. In the societies of animals, especially as they occur among insects, the members show a high degree of differentiation. Some individuals are adapted to the reproductive functions, while others are sterile and are fitted for the care of the young and to supply the wants of the community. This differentiation, which is of social value, has arisen independently in different groups. Thus, in the societies of bees and ants the workers are sterile females, while in the case of termites, individuals of both sexes may be sterile. In the human race, evolution is following another path. There is no sign of the appearance of a sterile class; but, as the life of man is longer than that of insects, it is divided into two periods, a reproductive period and a sterile period. Old age, at present practically a useless burden on the community, will become a period of work valuable to the community. As the old man will no longer be subject to loss of memory or to intellectual weakness, he will be able to apply his great experience to the most complicated and the most delicate parts of the social life.