“ What good is religion if it collapses under calamity? Think of what earthquakes and floods, wars and volcanoes, have done before to men! Did you think God had exempted Weybridge? He is not an insurance agent. ”
H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (1898). copy citation
| Author | H. G. Wells |
|---|---|
| Source | The War of the Worlds |
| Topic | God religion disaster insurance |
| Date | 1898 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36/36-h/36-h.htm |
Context
“I began to understand the position. I ceased my laboured reasoning, struggled to my feet, and, standing over him, laid my hand on his shoulder.
«Be a man!» said I. «You are scared out of your wits! What good is religion if it collapses under calamity? Think of what earthquakes and floods, wars and volcanoes, have done before to men! Did you think God had exempted Weybridge? He is not an insurance agent.»
For a time he sat in blank silence.
«But how can we escape?» he asked, suddenly. «They are invulnerable, they are pitiless.»
«Neither the one nor, perhaps, the other,» I answered. «And the mightier they are the more sane and wary should we be.” source
«Be a man!» said I. «You are scared out of your wits! What good is religion if it collapses under calamity? Think of what earthquakes and floods, wars and volcanoes, have done before to men! Did you think God had exempted Weybridge? He is not an insurance agent.»
For a time he sat in blank silence.
«But how can we escape?» he asked, suddenly. «They are invulnerable, they are pitiless.»
«Neither the one nor, perhaps, the other,» I answered. «And the mightier they are the more sane and wary should we be.” source
Meaning and analysis
