I think of myself as a naturalist, not a humanist, I am very comfortable with the Greek and the Romans philosophers, the Stoics and the Epicureans. People cling on to some idea of progress because they really feel that without it, life is not worth living and chaos breaks lose. That is an unnecessary fear. Epicurus was very cheerful, even when he was dying. It is entirely possible to have a philosophy or view of human life that is positive but that contains no trace of a belief in human progress.

— John N. Gray