”In this one respect (making war) man seems to
be quite different from the rest of the animal kingdom he sits in.”
C’mon Truman, such dark visions! That’s
not like you! I’m sure you know as well as I that the measurement of man
is far more than his war-making abilities. Yes, we’re damn good at
making weapons, whether they are sharpened sticks or intercontinental missiles,
but we’re also good at creating the cathedral of Notre Dame; the Sistine Chapel,
“Ode to Joy;” and Twelfth Night! What other animal has painted such
creatures as those found in the AltamiraCaves of Spain, the enigmatic smile of the
Mona Lisa, or the incredible sunlight of Van Gogh? Yes, we do have the ability
to murder millions of our fellow humans, but the fact that we haven’t
should give us great hope that we never will. Maybe the glass of humanity is
half empty, but I choose to see it as half full.
