Huxley On Hubris

The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Psalm 24 (vs. 1)

QUOTE The Greeks believed that hubris was always followed by nemesis, that if you went too far you would get a knock on the head to remind you that the gods will not tolerate insolence on the part of mortal men. In the sphere of human relations, the modern mind understands the doctrine of hubris and regards it as mainly true. We wish pride to have a fall, and we see that very often it does fall. To have too much power over one's fellows, to be too rich, too violent, too ambitious - all this invites punishment, and in the long run, we notice punishment of one sort or another duly comes. But the Greeks did not stop there. Because they regarded Nature as in some way divine, they felt that it had to be respected and they were convinced that a hubristic lack of respect of Nature would be punished by avenging nemesis. UNQUOTE
-Aldous Huxley