Lenten Reflections from the Planet of the Apes

From Taylor's Opening Monologue:

And that completes my final report until we reach touchdown. We're now on full automatic, in the hands of the computers. I've tucked my crew in for the long sleep and I'll be joining them soon.

In less than an hour we'll finish our sixth month out of Cape Kennedy. Six months in deep space. By our time, that is. According to Dr Hasslein's theory of time in a vehicle traveling nearly the speed of light, the Earth has aged nearly 700 years since we left it, while we've aged hardly at all.

It may be so.

This much is probably true. The men who sent us on this journey are long since dead and gone. You who are reading me now are a different breed. I hope a better one.

I leave the 20th century with no regrets, but... one more thing. If anybody's listening, that is. Nothing scientific. It's... purely personal. Seen from out here, everything seems different. Time bends. Space is... boundless. It squashes a man's ego. I feel lonely.

That's about it.

Tell me, though... Does man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox who has sent me to the stars, still make war against his brother, keep his neighbor's children starving?

Hope you are having a solemn Lent!