Words to Dismember

One of the most charming characteristics of Homo Sapiens--the wise guy on your left--is the consistency with which he has stoned, crucified, burned at the stake, and otherwise rid himself of those who consecrated their lives to his further comfort and well-being so that all his strength and cunning might be preserved for the creation of ever larger monuments, memorial shafts, triumphal arches, pyramids, and obelisks to the eternal glory of generals on horseback, tyrants, usurpers, dictators, politicians, and other heroes who led him usually from the rear, to dismemberment and death.
--prologue to The Great Moment, written by Preston Sturges

Sixty-one years later, still just as true, if not moreso. And to think Sturges was one of the funniest Americans ever, too.