“How we are almost nothing. We think, in our youth, we are the centre of the universe, but we simply respond, go this way or that by accident, survive or improve by the luck of the draw, with little choice or determination on our part.”

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Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Do you have more details about the quote "How we are almost nothing. We think, in our youth, we are the centre of the universe, but we simply respond, go this wa…" by Michael Ondaatje?

Michael Ondaatje44

Canadian writer 1943

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We define
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“As we look out into the Universe and identify the many accidents of physics and astronomy that have worked together to our benefit, it almost seems as if the Universe must in some sense have known that we were coming.”

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Context: We are all such accidents. We do not make up history and culture. We simply appear, not by our own choice. We make what we can of our condition with the means available. We must accept the mixture as we find it — the impurity of it, the tragedy of it, the hope of it.

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Source: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
Source: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (1990), p. 232

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and the twillight the moon
all are mirages
on labyrinth of mind,
ever since time waking.
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makes any difference
to this vast universe?
Did we just happen
or were we meant to happen?
In the universal scheme of things,
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We may manage to survive in it,
but we have no control upon it,
except in the little space and time
that we create for ourselves.
We are little possibilities
in the endless probabilities of the universe.”

Alexis Karpouzos book An Ocean of souls

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Source: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

“How we are almost nothing. We think, in our youth, we are the centre of the universe, but we simply respond, go this way or that by accident, survive or improve by the luck of the draw, with little choice or determination on our part.”

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Michael Ondaatje44

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