What do you think this statement means?

Question

"What mattered then, what matters now."

This statement is going to be used as the context for an essay that can be written from any kind of discipline.

It's part of a competition.

Answer 1

Its a wonderful topic....and i guess u shud go deep into its meaning. a lot can be said about it.....

its the question about the imortance of things in our life.........Are the things that were of importance in the past still important today??

how our needs and demands have changed and evolved over a period of time....

for example, a few years back development was a major criteria...it mattered the most...man wanted advancement in every sphere...today, when the negative effects of development and industrialization such as pollution, global  warming etc. have come into light, the focus has shifted to the conservation of environment.....this is what matters now/..

this is just one example....you can have millions of them...

the whole idea is to share your opinion on the topic.......how the importance of various things in life keeps on changing.....

gud luck!!

Answer 2

OOooooh, it's a lovely statement because it can be altered in meaning by different punctuation and nuance.  You could say it means that what mattered 1,000 years ago still matters in the 21st century (you decide what that is).

You could stick question marks in the middle and the end and answer those.

It gives great scope for a very interesting essay (don't forget that means intro; main body & conclusion) :-)