It still makes perfect sense, imo. I wouldn’t even call it incorrect on a technical level. The contrast between “man” as singular and “mankind” as collective should provide all of the context needed.
If I describe a scene of a story as “man goes to work,” no one assumes I’m talking about the collective of humanity.
The quote makes no sense without “a”. It’s always annoyed me that it’s not added in, whether he said it or not!
It still makes perfect sense, imo. I wouldn’t even call it incorrect on a technical level. The contrast between “man” as singular and “mankind” as collective should provide all of the context needed.
If I describe a scene of a story as “man goes to work,” no one assumes I’m talking about the collective of humanity.
“Man goes to work” makes sense as a headline, but not as a statement. “Man” and “mankind” mean the same thing.
Got it, so one may only discuss serious topics man(kind) to man(kind).