Quote of the Day

I don’t myself think much of science as a phase of human development. It has given us a lot of ingenious toys; they take our attention away from the real problems, of course, and since the problems are insoluble, I suppose we ought to be grateful for distraction.” Professor St. Peter continues: “Science hasn’t given us any new amazements, except of the superficial kind we get from witnessing dexterity and sleight-of-hand. It hasn’t given us any richer pleasures as the Renaissance did, nor any new sins—not one! Indeed, it takes our old ones away…I don’t think you help people by making their conduct of no importance—you impoverish them.

- Willa Cather, The Professor’s House