[brunellus]

Tolstoy phrased it more beautifully

“If it were not so frightening it would be amusing to observe the pride and complacency with which we, like children, take apart the watch, pull out the spring and make a toy of it, and are then surprised when the watch stops working.”

[xyzelement]

Thank you! This made me find the source of the quote and the wiki page on that - very in line with how my own view is evolving.