We cannot exaggerate our dependence on one heavenly body, the sun. As well have no earth as no sun. To the moon we owe the tides; and to the planets it is just possible that we stand indebted for some of our weather. The fixed stars are of use to us in navigation. Otherwise, so far as we can see, Mother Earth would go her way and carry all her children safe, with no other companions than sun and moon, or, for that matter, the sun only, though all other 'heavenly bodies' were wiped out of existence.

Of God and His Creatures: 3.91