I came across this poem today... It comes from the pen of Walt Whitman an American poet, from 'Leaves of Grass: Song of Myself'. I was very young when I first read it, but it made a great impression on me - finding it again is like greeting an old friend...
I think I could turn and live with animals
I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain’d;
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition;
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins;
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God;
Not one is dissatisfied—not one is demented with the mania of owning things;
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago;
Not one is respectable or industrious over the whole earth.
