the Wilderness

A Wilderness, in the Great Smoky Mountains, Georgia, 2020. Photo by douglas reeser

"I am indifferent, whether I lie or don't lie. I am only a cog in a wheel. Or rather a bee in a hive. It does not matter what I think of what any man thinks. What matters is the accumulation of man's knowledge, the increase of his power, the lessening of his suffering. What is good is to learn more and more, so that some day man will be so strong that nature will bow before him What is evil is that some men like you become ashamed of their common manhood. They become ashamed through fear and vanity. And they want to raise themselves above their fellows and become gods. It as always been so. Suffering, laceration, mysticism, murder and war are the wonderful signs of this wonderful divinity. I say it's a cursed cheat. Humbug!"

 - Liam O'Flaherty in his book The Wilderness, first published in 1927. This passage, spoken by the character Stevens is part of a dialogue between him and the mystic Lawless towards the end of the story.