"At any rate, whether we expect another invasion or not, our views of the human future must be greatly modified by these events. We have learned now that we cannot regard this planet as being fenced in and a secure abiding place for Man; we can never anticipate the unseen good or evil that may come upon us suddenly out of space. It may be that in the larger design of the universe this invasion from Mars is not without its ultimate benefit for men; it has robbed us of that serene confidence in the future which is the most fruitful source of decadence, the gifts to human science it has brought are enormous, and it has done much to promote the conception of the commonweal of mankind. It may be that across the immensity of space the Martians have watched the fate of these pioneers of theirs and learned their lesson, and that on the planet Venus they have found a securer settlement. Be that as it may, for many years yet there will certainly be no relaxation of the eager scrutiny of the Martian disk, and those fiery darts of the sky, the shooting stars, will bring with them as they fall an unavoidable apprehension to all the sons of men."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
H.G. Wells The War of the Worlds, Book II, Ch. 10 (Ch. 27 in editions without Book divisions): The Epilogue
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Space
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Space
43 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Space →
Related Quotes
"We still talk in terms of "conquest"-whether it be of the insect world or of the mysterious world of space. We still …"
"Space can be mapped and crossed and occupied without definable limit; but it can never be conquered. When our race ha…"
"Only a few centuries have passed since those pre-Columbian days, yet today our whole earth has become only another sh…"
"The glory of man lies in the fact that he is aware of space, and can imagine this space as the field of divine living…"
"As a solitary planetary system we may be inconspicuous, but so is the individual human. He does not thereby lose his …"
"Space is as infinite as we can imagine, and expanding this perspective is what adjusts humankind’s focus on conquerin…"
"The impact of space activities is nothing less than the galvanizing of hope and imagination for human life continuum …"
"Manned space flight . . . has opened for us thus far only a tiny door for viewing the awesome reaches of space. Our o…"
"[T]he program which Immanuel Kant proposed back in the 1760s... was this: our knowledge of the outside world depends …"
"We cannot predict the new forces, powers, and discoveries that will be disclosed to us when we reach the other planet…"