Yevgeny Zamyatin — We [608]

Human history ascends in circles, like an aero. The circles differ—some are golden, some bloody. But all are equally divided into three hundred and sixty degrees. And the movement is from zero-onward, to ten, twenty, two hundred, three hundred and sixty degrees—back to zero. Yes, we have returned to zero—yes. But to my mathematical mind it is clear that this zero is altogether different, altogether new. We started from zero to the right, we have returned to it from the left. Hence, instead of plus zero, we have minus zero. Do you understand? — Yevgeny Zamyatin, We, 608

Note

The mathematical formulation of historical regression as an advance through signs, transforming the circle of history into a conceptual trap.