Save for thee and thy lessons, man in society would everywhere sink into a sad compound of the fiend and the wild beast and this fallen world would be as certainly a moral as a natural wilderness.

Summary

This quote suggests that the only thing preventing humans from descending into a state of savagery is the lessons and teachings that we acquire through living in society. Without the guidance and knowledge imparted to us by others, humanity would become a dangerous combination of demonic-like behavior and instinctual aggression. The quote implies that society serves as a moral framework, preventing the world from becoming a wilderness not only in the physical sense but also in the ethical aspect.

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