I wanted all things to make sense,
So we'd be happy instead of tense.

 From Nice, Nice, Very Nice, Ambrosia

 

Man is cruelly wasteful of life when his own safety is endangered and he is sheltered by impunity, and little mercy is to be expected from him when he feels the sting of the reptile and is conscious of the power to destroy.

Washington Irving,  The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.