Had we never seen the stars, and the sun, and the heaven, none of the words which we have spoken about the universe would ever be uttered. But now the sight of day and night, and the months and the revolutions of the years, have created number, and have given us a conception of time, and the power of enquiring about the nature of the universe; and from this source we have derived philosophy, than which no greater good ever was or will be given by gods to mortal man.

-Plato