Mark Twain: What is Man?
Did you know that Mark Twain wrote books besides “Tom Sawyer” and the “Adventures of Huck Finn”? Well, now you do.
‘Old Man’ from “What is Man: And Other Essays”, pg. 119-120 (this section explains why one shouldn’t fear the collapse of society into chaos at the introduction of the idea that man is not special, unique or extraordinary as a creature of this planet):
“Nations do not think, they only feel. They get their feelings at second hand through their temperaments, not their brains. A nation can be brought - by force of circumstances, not argument - to reconcile itself to any kind of government or religion that can be devised; in time it will fit itself to the required conditions; later, it will prefer them and will fiercely fight for them. As instances, you have all history: the Greeks, the Romans, the Persians, the Egyptians, the Russians, the Germans, the French, the English, the Spaniards, the Americans, the South Americans, the Japanese, the Chinese, the Hindoos, the Turks - a thousand wild and tame religions, every kind of government that can be though of, from tiger to housecat, each nation knowing it has the only true religion and the only sane system of government, each despising all the others, each an ass for not suspecting it, each proud of its fancied supremacy, each perfectly sure it is the pet of God, each without undoubted confidence summoning Him to take command in time of war, each surprised when He goes over to the enemy, but by habit able to excuse it and resume compliments - in a word, the whole human race content, always content, persistently content, indestructibly content, happy, thankful, proud, no matter what its religion is, nor whether its master be tiger or house-cat. Am I stating facts? You know I am. Is the human race cheerful? You know it is. Considering what it can stand, and be happy, you do me too much honor when you that that I can place before it a system of plain cold facts that can take the cheerfulness out of it. Nothing can do that. Everything has been tried. Without success. I beg you not to be troubled.”