“Every human life involves an unfathomable mystery, for man is the riddle of the universe, and the riddle of man is his endowment with personal capacities.”

—  Harry Emerson Fosdick

On Being a Real Person (1943)
Context: Every human life involves an unfathomable mystery, for man is the riddle of the universe, and the riddle of man is his endowment with personal capacities. The stars are not so strange as the mind that studies them, analyzes their light, and measures their distances.

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Harry Emerson Fosdick photo
Harry Emerson Fosdick 40
American pastor 1878–1969

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