A philosophical mouse spoke loudly in praise of nature’s goodness for having made the mice such particular objects of her concern and protection.

“For,” she said, “one half of us is provided by her with wings, so that if all here below were killed by cats, she could easily restore our extinguished race by means of the bats.”

The good little mouse didn’t know that there were also flying cats and thus does our pride chiefly rest on ignorance.