Nothing New under the Sun

There really is nothing new under the sun An excerpt from the Belinda by Maria Edgeworth written almost 200 years ago:



I see-or at least when I went out more than my health will at present permit-I used to see multitudes of silly girls, seemingly all cut out upon the same pattern, who frequented public places day after day, and year after year, without any idea further than of diverting themselves, or of obtaining transient admiration. How I have pitied and despised the giddy creatures, whilst I have observed them playing off their unmeaning airs, vying with one another in the most obvious, and consequently the most ridiculous manner, so as to expose themselves before the very men they would attract; chattering, tittering, and flirting; full of the present moment, never reflecting upon the future, quite satisfied if they got a partner at a ball, without ever thinking of a partner for life.