“ Man no longer follows instinct with the old natural fidelity. He has developed into a reasoning creature, and can intellectually cling to life or discard life just as life happens to promise great pleasure or pain. ”
Jack London, The People of the Abyss (1903). copy citation
| Author | Jack London |
|---|---|
| Source | The People of the Abyss |
| Topic | pain fidelity |
| Date | 1903 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_People_of_the_Abyss |
Context
“I, for one, from what I know of canals and workhouses, should choose the canal, were I in a similar position. And I make bold to contend that I am no more insane than Ellen Hughes Hunt, her husband, and the rest of the human herd.
Man no longer follows instinct with the old natural fidelity. He has developed into a reasoning creature, and can intellectually cling to life or discard life just as life happens to promise great pleasure or pain. I dare to assert that Ellen Hughes Hunt, defrauded and bilked of all the joys of life which fifty-two years' service in the world had earned, with nothing but the horrors of the workhouse before her, was very rational and level-headed when she elected to jump into the canal.”
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