| Quanta itaque sint istorum orbium spatia, quamque exilis, eorum
respectu, Telluris globulus, in quo tam multa homines molimur, tantum navigamus, tot bella gerimus,
ex his intelligitur. Quod utinam discant cogitentque Reges & Monarchæ nostri; ut sciant quantilla
in re laborent cum de angulo aliquo terræ occupando totis viribus, magno multorum malo, contendunt.
[Christiaan Huygens, ΚΟΣΜΟΘΕΩΡΟΣ, sive, de
Terris Cœlestibus, earumque ornatu, conjecturæ, 1698, p. 125] |
|
This shows us how vast those Orbs [of Jupiter & Saturn] must be,
and how inconsiderable this Earth, the Theatre upon which all our mighty Designs, all our Navigations,
and all our Wars are transacted, is when compared to them. A very fit Consideration, and matter of
Reflection, for those Kings and Princes who sacrifice the Lives of so many People, only to flatter their
Ambition in being Masters of some pitiful corner of this small Spot. [Christiaan Huygens, The
Celestial Worlds Discover’d, or, Conjectures Concerning the Inhabitants, Plants and Productions of the
Worlds in the Planets, 1698, pp. 141-142] |
