[E]ven with all their ethics men would never have been anything but monsters if nature had not given them pity in support of their reason; […] from this quality alone flow all the social virtues […]. It carries us without reflection to the aid of those whom we see suffer; in the state of nature, it takes the place of laws, morals, and virtue, with the advantage that no one is tempted to disobey its gentle voice. […] [A]lthough it may behoove Socrates and minds of his stamp to acquire virtue through reason, the human race would have perished long ago if its preservation had depended only on the reasonings of its members.