From Dialogues of Alfred North Whitehead:

“One of the happiest times that I know of in the history of mankind,” said he, “was the thirty years, roughly, from 1880 to 1910. I am not suggesting that there were not a great many things which needed changing; but we intended to change them and had set about doing so. For people like us, moderately comfortable, the conditions were ideal — not too much money, engrossing work to be done, and a sense of purpose and progress in the world.”