People fascinated by the idea of progress never suspect that every step forward is also a step on the way to the end and that behind all the joyous 'onward and upward' slogans lurks the lascivious voice of death urging us to make haste.

Without wonder, there's no progress. Nothing gets done, nobody goes anywhere. If you don't exercise your capacity for wonder... well, use it or lose it. A civilization without wonder is a civilization that's starting to atrophy and die.

Education in India has made monumental progress since Independence but continues to face daunting challenges at multiple levels, particularly in terms of quality, infrastructure and dropout rates. We have islands of excellence floating in a sea of mediocrity.

It's only recently women got to be action heroes on TV. Progress is slow, and often non-existent. There's plenty of cool comics with female characters... But all it takes is one Catwoman to set the cause back a decade.

“As every day moves on, he is progressing with what those 75 hours were for him. He is catching up with a lot of friends and family, and also spending some quality time with himself, contemplating the enormity of the whole event really.”

“I don't know what freshmen will be coming in, but it should be a good team next year. I was very pleased with the progress. I look back on the start of the season and it was basic techniques. By the end, they had come along very well.”

“The market is recognizing that the economy has bottomed, it didn't cave. But it's hard to make progress from here. The Fed is mostly through with easing. We now need solid evidence of real economic recovery, principally from the consumers.”

“We are still very cautious on leisure and airline stocks. For British Airways the transatlantic route represents about 40 percent of revenue, they still have more room to fall but Lufthansa has made good progress in cutting costs.”

“We are off to a solid start in 2006, with measurable progress on all fronts. Revenue is up, net earnings are stronger, acquisitions are being integrated smoothly and costs are under control. Our strategies for long-term growth are gaining momentum.”

“I have observed that the world has suffered far less from ignorance than from pretensions to knowledge. It is not skeptics or explorers but fanatics and ideologues who menace decency and progress. No agnostic ever burned anyone at the stake or tortur”