FIRE

The usefulness of fire, necessary to cook, goes together with the pleasure it gives to the sight, and its warmth enjoyed by the body. The flames aspect, which drives the animals away, attracts men. We gather around the common fireplace, we feast and dance there; the sweet ties of habit pull insensibly together man and its fellow creatures, and in this rustic hearth burns the sacred fire which brings deep in the hearts the first feeling of humanity.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Essay on the Origin of Languages , chap. IX.

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