Why do all good things come to an end?

Hello,
I have recently been asked the question “Why do all good things come to an end?”. I thought about it for the last few days, but I really don’t see any clarifying answer. What does everyone here think about it?

Milky.

Whatever has come about must by that very fact come to an end. This is because change has not come about: for if it had come about, there would at one point have been no change, and this changelessness could never have changed into change. So there is, has always been, and will always be, change, and in this change, things come about, some of which you may like (“good things”). These things, however, are also in change, and will sooner or later change into bad things, or other things. Likewise, if good things didn’t come to an end, they could never have come about in the first place.

Wow, it took 6 reads to fully understand that, but it seemed to make sense.

There is one scenario which I don’t get:
Consider the scenario of Roger Federer (tennis) playing at Wimbledon. He wins all his matches. Well, then the good things do not come to an end. When he plays at the French open, he always loses. So his winning streak comes to an end. So is this justified by the fact that his winning streak at Wimbledon did not change, but did at French open. It had to because … (I dont know how to answer the rest).

I understand your answer Sauwelios, but I don’t quite know how to apply it to real situation (or analogies).

I’ll paraphrase Sally here: The ephemeral nature of the thing is what makes it beautiful.

Have you ever bitten into a rotten fruit? I’d recommend it (I used a pear). For the first instant, there is this intensely sweet moment that is completely incomparable to anything else. This moment of perfection is perfectly complimented by the noxious taste that follows. Perfect bliss followed by perfect disgust, the disgust elevating the memory of the perfection and the perfection completing the disgust.

Truly beautiful.

I believe that all good things must come to an end because if they didn’t, then we would have no appreciation for the fact that they existed at all.

For example, my favorite temperature is around 55 degrees Fahrenheit, but if every day was fifty-five, then I would have no appreciation for the temperature because I would have nothing to compare it to. So, without days colder or hotter than my liking, days that meet the exact definition of my liking are rendered meaningless because I know nothing else.

Also, one must consider that if all good things must come to an end, in contrast all bad things must also come to an end, which certainly is a good thing.

Thats the thing, if you enjoy something then you will miss it when its gone. When you have it, then its a good thing and you are happy. So if you always have it then (what you are saying is that) you will get accustomized to it possibly making it boring or less important (or less significant). But that in itself is a “change”. Getting accustomized in something which isn’t changing could potentially change your attitude towards it.

If I like 55 degree (fahr) temperatures, then I will always like them. Thats just me though. You will have appreciation for the fact that they exist because they cause no problems or difficulties related to them.

I’m not a very philosophical person, but this question really intrigues me. Ive been thinking bout nothing else but it for 2 days. I just want some things to never change (which is impossible).

That’s not quite what I am saying.

I mean, if no temperature but 55 degrees were even possible, and I had no knowledge of any other temperature, then it would mean nothing to me.

But, even positing that 55 degrees could change, one must consider that it will mean less and less the more accustomed to it one gets. Eventually, it will mean nothing because you will have no recollection of anything else.

If the world were perfect, or all in the world was good and there was no bad, then there would be no way to differentiate good from bad, there would be no basis of comparison and good would lose all meaning. That is why all good things must end, because if they didn’t, they would go from good to completely meaningless.

Agreed.

Things end because they have completed its cycle or mission or self.
It becomes time for another thing. Bad things have good reasons to be happening. They to will finish just like the good.

People that suicide due to a long bad cycle do not realize that through their efforts or just patience the cycle will end.

I think we can manipulate good and bad things to an extent. But, for the most part we don’t realize that we are doing it.

Well, I was not trying to justify it; I merely tried to explain why all things must come to an end, not why it is good that this is so.

A sportsman gradually attains his peak, and then gradually loses it again. The good thing here is not his winning Wimbledon; it is his being in optimal condition.

On a side note: when you are attached to something, and you get separated from it, passion arises (from the Latin pati, “to suffer”). This passion may be a good thing, because it may enable you to rebel against the separation and reunite. But some things are irrevocably lost. Then passion becomes desperation, and the only remedy is detachment. When you are in mourning, you may fail to notice many new good things that come along. I am also reminded of Blake’s poem:

“He who binds himself to a joy
Does the wingèd life destroy,
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity’s sun rise.”
[Blake, Eternity.]

The Circle of Life theory, I like it. It ties in well to my response, I think.

My only question is this, if a long bad cycle ends as a result of patience or natural reasons, is it not true that all good cycles must end, as well.

Further, if, “bad things have good reasons to be happening,” then, isn’t it an imperative that good things have bad reasons to be happening?

Of course good things can have bad reasons.

If I find 10,000$ and no one claims it that is a good thing for me right? but, someone lost that money. That is a bad thing for them. Could be a very bad thing for them. My good can be someone elses bad

Even my good can be a bad for me

Lets say family is coming to visit thats a good thing, They get here and tell me they have to live with me from now on. That could be good for them but, as much as I love my family I did not move away just to have them come live with me.

I win the lottery and suddenly I have people that just “love” me coming out of the woodworks.
Good cycles end and bad cycles end.

Throw a handful of pebbles into a pond and watch the event. Circles touch and enter each other but, still remain circles. Watch closely when two circles collide. It can create a divergence of rythm and shape.
We don’t know what affects good and bad have but, some how they can all be tied together

This how I see events in life and cycles.

All things come to an end.
Good things are things.
Therefore, all good things come to an end.