“The perpetual stream of human nature is formed into ever-changing shallows, eddies, falls and pools by the land over which it passes.”

—  Mary Renault, book The Mask of Apollo

The Mask of Apollo (1966)
Context: Christianity and Islam have changed irrevocably the moral reflexes of the world. The philosopher Herakleitos said with profound truth that you cannot step twice into the same river. The perpetual stream of human nature is formed into ever-changing shallows, eddies, falls and pools by the land over which it passes. Perhaps the only real value of history lies in considering this endlessly varied play between the essence and the accidents.

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Mary Renault31
English novelist 1905–1983

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