of the
human race, suffices to explain to us the difference which is often
found between them in regard to the intellectual faculties. More or less
of delicacy in these organs, of heat in the blood, of promptitude in the
fluids, more or less of suppleness or of rigidity in the fibers and the
nerves, must necessarily produce the infinite diversities which are
noticeable in the minds of men. It is by exercise, by habitude, by
education, that the human mind is developed and succeeds in rising above
the beings which surround it; man, without culture and without
experience, is a being as devoid of reason and of industry as the brute.
A stupid individual is a man whose organs are acted upon with
difficulty, whose brain is hard to move, whose blood circulates slowly;
a man of mind is he whose organs are supple, who feels very quickly,
whose brain moves promptly; a learned man is one whose organs and whose
brain have been exercised a long while upon objects which occupy him.

The man without culture, experience, or reason, is he not more
despicable and more abominable than the vilest insects, or the most
ferocious beasts? Is there a more detestable being in nature than a
Tiberius, a Nero, a Caligula? These destroyers of the human race, known
by the name of conquerors, have they better souls than those of bears,
lions, and panthers? Are there more detestable animals in this world
than tyrants?

XCVII.--REFUTATION OF MAN'S EXCELLENCE.

Human extravagances soon dispel, in the eyes of reason, the superiority
which man arrogantly claims over other animals. Do we not see many
animals show more gentleness, more reflection and reason than the animal
which calls itself reasonable par excellence? Are there amongst men, who
are so often enslaved and oppressed, societies as well organized as
those of ants, bees, or beavers? Do we ever see ferocious beasts of the
same kind meet upon the plains to devour each other without profit? Do
we see among them religious wars? The cruelty of beasts against other
species is caused by hunger, the need of nourishment; the cruelty of man
against man has no other motive than the vanity of his masters and the
folly of his impertinent prejudices. Theorists who try to make us
believe that everything in the universe was made for man, are very much
embarrassed when we ask them in what way can so many mischievous animals
which continually infest our life here, contribute to the welfare of
men. What kno