Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery. The surface of mystery is not smooth, any more than the planet is smooth; not even a single hydrogen atom is smooth, let alone a pine. Nor does it fit together; not even the chlorophyll and hemoglobin molecules are a perfect match, for, even after the atom of iron replaces the magnesium, long streamers of disparate atoms trail disjointedly from the rims of the molecule’s loops. Freedom cuts both ways. Mystery itself is as fringed and intricate at the shape of the air at times. Forays into mystery cut bays and fine fjords, but the forested mainland itself is implacable both in its bulk and in its most filigreed fringe of detail. Annie Dillard
About This Quote

In this quote, Virginia Woolf described the nature of life as a "faint tracing on the surface of mystery." In other words, we cannot fully understand the world around us. Life is a mystery. Most people do not understand how they came to be who they are today. If you think about it, your true identity may be different from what you think it is.

In fact, it may be very different from what you thought it was when you were younger. If everyone in the world had the same identity that they do now, then there wouldn't be any problems. The problem comes when people are not who they think they are.

Identity is the way that people see themselves and interact with others. When someone has trouble with their identity, they may turn to substances or behaviors to try and change how others see them.

Source: Pilgrim At Tinker Creek

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  1. How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.
  2. Spend the afternoon, you can't take it with you.
  3. You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is necessary. But the stars neither require nor demand it.
  4. Could two live that way? Could two live under the wild rose, and explore by the pond, so that the smooth mind of each is as everywhere present to the other, and as received and as unchallenged, as falling snow?
  5. Eskimo: "If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?" Priest: "No, not if you did not know." Eskimo: "Then why did you tell me?
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