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"As man is, God once was..."
Jul. 31st, 2008 09:28 amGravestone with inscription cited by Algis Budrys in his novel Rogue Moon. Curiously, it also echoes a famous LDS/Mormon quote about God and Man by fifth Prophet and President Lorenzo Snow. Snow's version, from 1840: "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become."
The version on the pictured gravestone:
Remember man as you pass by
As you are now so once was I
As I am now so you must be!
Prepare for death and follow me.
Original photo here, clearly dating the headstone at 1830.
This was a common inscription in the eastern US of the early 19th Century -- see this Google Images search. The likelihood that Snow -- and his peers -- was unfamiliar with the Nietzschean implications of the quote seems low.
The version on the pictured gravestone:
Remember man as you pass by
As you are now so once was I
As I am now so you must be!
Prepare for death and follow me.
Original photo here, clearly dating the headstone at 1830.
This was a common inscription in the eastern US of the early 19th Century -- see this Google Images search. The likelihood that Snow -- and his peers -- was unfamiliar with the Nietzschean implications of the quote seems low.
