Earth Abides

by George R. Stewart

Oh, Mother of Nations!

Heart rending and beautiful... Em, the maternal hope for a new world.

Perhaps there were too many people, too many old ways of thinking, too many books. Perhaps the ruts of thinking had grown too deep and the refuse of the past lay too heavy around us, like piles of garbage and old clothes. Why should not the philosopher welcome the wiping-out of it all and a new start and men playing the game with fresh rules? There would be, perhaps, more gain than loss.

The stars in their courses! What was man, little man, to withstand them?

“Yes, I am happy. Things are as they are, and I am part of them.”