7
" At the moment of death, the soul's impressions are similar to those of initiates in the ways of the Great Mysteries.
First they rush along blindly, twisting and turning, on an endless, anxious journey through the shadows.
Then, just before the end, their fear reaches its height. Bathed in cold sweat, they shiver and tremble, utterly terrified.
This phase is almost immediately followed by a return to the light, a sudden illumination.
They are surrounded by a marvelous glow and move through pure places and meadows ringing with voices and dancing.
Sacred words inspire religious respect. The perfect initiate is free to celebrate the Mysteries. "
― Bernard Werber , Empire of the Ants (La Saga des Fourmis, #1)
10
" TOTALITARIANISM: People are interested in ants because they think they have managed to create a successful totalitarian system. Certainly, the impression we get from the outside is that everyone in the anthill works, everyone is obedient, everyone is ready to sacrifice themselves and everyone is the same. And for the time being, all human totalitarian systems have failed. That is why we thought of copying social insects (like Napoleon, whose emblem was the bee). The pheromones that flood the anthill with global information have an equivalent in the planetary television of today. There is a widespread belief that if the best is made available to all, one day we will end up with a perfect human race. That is not the way of things. Nature, with all due respect to Mr Darwin, does not evolve in the direction of the supremacy of the best (according to which criteria, anyway?). Nature draws its strength from diversity. It needs all kinds of people, good, bad, mad, desperate, sporty, bed-ridden, hunchbacked, hare-lipped, happy, sad, intelligent, stupid, selfish, generous, small, tall, black, yellow, red and white. It needs all religions, philosophies, fanaticisms and wisdom. The only danger is that any one species may be eliminated by another. In the past, fields of maize artificially designed by men and made up of clones of the best heads (the ones that need least water, are most frost-resistant or produce the best grains) have suddenly succumbed to trivial infections while fields of wild maize made up of several different strains, each with its own peculiar strengths and weaknesses, have always managed to survive epidemics. Nature hates uniformity and loves diversity. It is in this perhaps that its essential genius lies.
Edmond Wells
Encyclopedia of Relative and Absolute Knowledge "
― Bernard Werber , Empire of the Ants (La Saga des Fourmis, #1)
