" one which seems to be deliberately seeking the downfall of the human race. And we wonder uneasily what the state of the world will be after the great trial and what will be left of it and what will be the future of this stunted race, shorn of all the best and noblest part of it. The problem is certainly one of the darkest that have ever vexed the minds of men. "

― Maurice Maeterlinck , The Wrack of the Storm