We are kept keen on the grindstone of pain and necessity.

H.G. Wells The Time Machine (1895), Chapter 4 Verified source · How we source quotes
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The Time Traveller has this thought in chapter 4 of The Time Machine, soon after meeting the Eloi, the gentle and feeble people of the distant future. His first theory is that humanity grew weak once life became completely safe and easy. Pain and need had kept people sharp, and in this future that grindstone seemed to be broken at last.

Source: The Time Machine (1895), Chapter 4

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