But we were born of risen apes, not fallen angels, and the apes were
armed killers besides. And so what shall we wonder at? Our murders
and massacres and missiles, and our irreconcilable regiments? Or our
treaties whatever they may be worth; our symphonies however seldom
they may be played; our peaceful acres, however frequently they may
be converted into battlefields; our dreams however rarely they may be
accomplished. The miracle of man is not how far he has sunk but how
magnificently he has risen. We are known among the stars by our poems,
not our corpses.
-- Robert Ardrey, African Genesis (1961)