Excerpt 4 “It has occured to me that humans are the least fortunate of all living beings. They have all the same instincts that all animals share; to survive, to feed, to reproduce. But they are also fitted with a curse that no other living being possess. Ambition. Once a human being reaches a certain age, it begins to aspire, to dream of becoming something more, to stand out among its kind. And in that trait lies also mankind’s greatest downfall. Because if you do not reach that dream, you view your own #life as one great waste of time. You may find other things that take the place of your original design for #life, and find contentment in that, but you are merely consoling yourself, with the notion that you found another purpose within the realms of possibility. You let go of your dreams, in the face of responsibility. No other living being does this, goes through this. A squirrel does not dream of building a pyramid. A bear does not reflect on the time it spent hibernating as time it could have spent doing something. A bird does not think of engrossing death. A dog does not judge its mate by what else is out there, or fantizises about a younger or prettier version. An animal does not know what failure is. It accepts its place and its limitations. It lives in the moment. It does not dream of days to come, or paths never walked. An animal knows peace. Have you ever seen an animal stricken by sickness, Carl? Seen it lie down on its side with a knowing glance that there is nothing left to do, that its time has come? Animals do not want your sympathy, or your pity, even in the face of death. They understand the natural order of things.”