DIALOGUE ON ANXIETY
159
H:
Suppose the goal achieved and all such allXlehes cured.
What then? What becomes of man himself? Does he not become
just another animal, a little busier, more inquisitive, and more cun–
ning than the rest of the animals?
F: Your question strikes me as very academic, to say the least.
Considering the world as it is, the last thing we have to worry about
is what will happen when mankind loses its anxieties. This is like
asking us to worry about the dreadful prospect of man's becoming
torpid and placid when all social conflicts disappear. We are busy
enough, as it is, healing the wounds.
H
(
mormorando)
:
Anxious then only about his food, about
his litter: his animal competition and his animal survival. I am afraid
man would lose his human essence.
F: Those who suffer from real anxieties will know what it
means to want to be rid of them.
