People have always longed for "the good old days". The Tao te ching itself is 2500 years old, and even it romanticizes the "ancient masters of the way". With respect to this tradition, I have to part my ways with it.

The temptation to glorify older times is easy, but it's also fruitless. To start, you must realize that the very concept of time is a fantasy. The "linear" passage of time is more accurately understood as a circle without a middle.

There is only the now moment, and that is all there was and all there is and all there will be. Rather than long for it, just be with it. Time will arrive on its own without your help, so don't get in it's way.