
Volume 2, Ch. 1
Fiction, The Book of the Long Sun (1993–1996)
p, 125
The Razor's Edge (1943)
Volume 2, Ch. 1
Fiction, The Book of the Long Sun (1993–1996)
“The old man was sad as he sat on his porch. He knew so little of the Great Purpose.”
"The Big Hunger" (1952)
Context: The old man was sad as he sat on his porch. He knew so little of the Great Purpose. Why must his seed fling itself starward? He knew that it must — but he lacked a reason. His grandchildren played in the twilight, played space-games, although there was not yet a starship on the planet.
The Open Mind interview (1985)
Context: I look upon ourselves as partners in all of this, and that each of us contributes and does what he can do best. And so I see not a top rung and a bottom rung — I see all this horizontally — and I see this as part of a matrix. And I see every human being as having a purpose, a destiny, if you like. And what my hope is that we can find some way to fulfill the biological potential, if you like — the destiny that exists in each of us — and find ways and means to provide such opportunities for everyone. Now at the moment the world is suffering from large numbers of people who have no purpose in life — for whom there is no opportunity — and that's sad.