“Outward, thanks to the knowledge of physical laws, man could subdue (or subjugate…) nature, but inwardly, he remained a slave to it. For, when all is said and done, at what is aiming all this display (or deployment) of activity, if not to realized outward profits, to provide material pleasure (or enjoyment). It is not the first time that men sell their birth right for a dish of lentils, and thus disown (or repudiate or deny) the best of thmeselves.”

—  African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 36 - second thought of the book, - the translator.

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African Spir 98
Russian philosopher 1837–1890

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