A paradox is a self-contradictory statement to one's investigation that was found true. So an example would be save money by spending it. This is not the same as saving money TO spend it, because you're doing it for a reason. Saving money by spending would mean that you're not actually saving money, therefore you contradict yourself.
I chose these lines because they author is basically saying that it's been centuries since then, but it actually feels like it's been a shorter period.
