324 TOWARDS THE HUMAN FORM 



matter. It is our desire to know, to see further and from a 

 greater height, that has made us rise to the completely erect 

 attitude of which we are so proud, and which has incited us to 

 use our liberated hands for the palpation and appreciation of 

 everything they touch, or to fashion raw material into 

 implements exactly suited to a purpose clearly conceived. It 

 is this same desire that has stimulated the evolution of our 

 brain, given to the human countenance its noble aspect, and 

 prepared our lips for language and laughter. 



What matters the material — be it living flesh or inert dust — 

 on which intelligence has been at work, if intelligence has ever 

 and without intermission ennobled that material by its 

 presence ? What matter those transformations that the body 

 of Man has had to undergo, if, in a radiant course across the 

 abyss of all living form, Mind has brought it to those heights 

 from which Reason now dominates the world ? 



