Once it was so; now is man lord of the creation? Look at him—ha! I see plague! She has invested his form, is incarnate in his flesh, has entwined herself with his being, and blinds his heaven-seeking eyes.
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Context: Verney reflects on humanity's old claim to dominion over the earth.
Source: Volume III, Chapter I
Will the earth still keep her place among the planets; will she still journey with unmarked regularity round the sun; … will beasts pasture, birds fly, and fishes swim, when man, the lord, possessor…
What is there in our nature that is for ever urging us on towards pain and misery? We are not formed for enjoyment; and, however we may be attuned to the reception of pleasureable emotion…
I spread the whole earth out as a map before me. On no one spot of its surface could I put my finger and say, here is safety.
Farewell to the giant powers of man,—to knowledge that could pilot the deep-drawing bark through the opposing waters of shoreless ocean,—to science that directed the silken balloon through the…
The choice is with us; let us will it, and our habitation becomes a paradise. For the will of man is omnipotent, blunting the arrows of death, soothing the bed of disease, and wiping away the tears…