Then the red telephone rang. Dickerson’s heart gave a tremendous lurch. He closed his eyes, composing himself by reciting the mantra Dr. Mensch had g… - Robert Sheckley

How nicely you put it! We may rant against fortune and the world, but we are left at the end with the stark proposition: “These are the things which are.”

Nature also gives rain and drought, heat and cold; and thoughtfully ensures that the rain rots man’s food, the drought parches it, the heat scalds man’s body, and the cold freezes his limbs.
These are only nature’s milder aspects, not to be compared to the wrathfulness of the sea, the frigid indifference of the mountains, the treachery of the swamp, the depravity of the desert, or the terror of the jungle. But I noticed that nature, in her hatred of mankind, provided that most of the earth’s surface be covered with sea, mountains, swamp, desert, and jungle.

The last cigarette is a sort of souvenir and something to remember Earth by. It's the perfect symbol of men's greatest invention."
"And what would that be?"
"Something desirable that's not good for you.