Bertrand Russell, answered from the texts and cited to the page.
That man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that all the labours of the ages are destined to extinction; and that only within the scaffolding of these truths can the soul's habitation be safely built.123
And seeing the present was bad, he made it yet worse, that thereby the future might be better. And he gave God thanks for the strength that enabled him to forgo even the joys that were possible. And God smiled; and when he saw that Man had become perfect in renunciation and worship, he sent another sun through the sky, which crashed into Man's sun; and all returned again to nebula.Chapter III — A Free Mans Worship[9]
And God smiled; and when he saw that Man had become perfect in renunciation and worship, he sent another sun through the sky, which crashed into Man's sun; and all returned again to nebula. "Ves," he murmured, 'it was a good play; I will have it performed again.' " Such, in outline, but even more purposeless, more void of meaning, is the world which Science presents for our belief.Selected Papers of Bertrand Russell
And seeing the present was bad, he made it yet worse, that thereby the future might be better. And he gave God thanks for the strength that enabled him to forego even the joys that were possible. And God smiled; and when he saw that Man had become perfect in renunciation and worship, he sent another sun through the sky, which crashed into Man's sun; and all returned again to nebula.Philosophical Essays, incl. A Free Man's Worship
His most anthologised prose and the piece he came most to dislike.