Prelude to Foundation (Foundation, #6)

by Isaac Asimov

“Surely, people don’t sit around and say, ‘We’re decaying. Let’s let the Expressways fall apart.’ ” “No, they don’t. It’s not a purposeful thing. Bad spots are patched, decrepit coaches refurbished, magnets replaced. However, it’s done in more slapdash fashion, more carelessly, and at greater intervals. There just aren’t enough credits available.”

“Hari, that’s one of the most widespread legends we have. The ancient hero does not die but remains in suspended animation, ready to return to save his people at some time of great need.

There is always the tale of an original world and a golden age. There is a longing for a supposedly simple and virtuous past that is almost universal among the people of a complex and vicious society.

all may have happened as you said, but that doesn’t force your interpretation of the meaning of the events to be true.