Harari — “Voltaire said about God that ‘there is no…”

Source: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind — Yuval Noah Harari

Book page: harari-sapiens

From: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind — Quotes

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Voltaire said about God that ‘there is no God, but don’t tell that to my servant, lest he murder me at night’. Hammurabi would have said the same about his principle of hierarchy, and Thomas Jefferson about human rights. Homo sapiens has no natural rights, just as spiders, hyenas and chimpanzees have no natural rights. But don’t tell that to our servants, lest they murder us at night.