From the ‘Martian Chronicles’ TV Mini-series
One of the things that impressed me was this short speech involving a martian and the main protagonist, Wilder, in the piece:
From the third episode, quoted from the DVD
Martian: There is no secret. Anyone with eyes can see the way to live
Wilder: How?
Martian: By watching life, observing nature, cooperating with it. Making common cause with the process of existence
Wilder: How?
Martian: By living life for itself don’t you see, deriving pleasure from the gift of pure being
Wilder: The gift of pure being
Martian: Life is its own answer, accept it and enjoy it day by day. Live as well as possible, expect no more.
Destroy nothing, humble nothing, look for fault in nothing, leave unsullied and untouched all that is beautiful. Hold that which lives in all reverence, for life is given by the sovereign of our universe, given to be savored, to be luxuriated in, to be … respected.
But that’s no secret, you’re intelligent, you know as well as I what must be done
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IMDB lists this mini-series with a rating of 6.8 of 10 with 600 votes. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080242/) I think that’s a pretty fair rating. While it is no where near as good as Ray Bradbury’s original stories, it does make an interesting story on its own. This particular quote though impressed me, stating as it does some clear guidelines which it would do us all good to think about.