We Should Think of Ourselves as Atoms

we should consider ourselves but as atoms of organized matter, whose pleasure or whose pain, whose existence in a state of organization, or whose non-existence in that state, is a matter of no importance in the laws and operations of Nature; we should view ourselves with the same feelings, as we view the leaf which rises in the spring, and falls in the autumn, and then serves no further purpose but to fertilize the earth for a fresh production; we should view ourselves but as the blossoms of May, which exhibit but a momentary splendour and beauty, and often within that moment are cut off prematurely by a blast. We are of no more importance in the scale of Nature than those myriads of animalcules whose natural life is but for the space of an hour, or but a moment. We come and pass like a cloud—like a shower—those of us who possess a brilliancy superior to others, are but as the rainbow, the objects of a momentary admiration, and a momentary recollection. Man has been most aptly compared to the seasons of the year, in our own climate, the spring, is his infancy; the summer, the time of his ardent manhood; the autumn, his decline of life; and the winter, his old age and death—he passes, and another series comes. He is produced by, and produces his like, and so passes away one generation after another, from, and to all eternity.

Notes:

We are like the leaves on trees that are green for a season and then return to the Earth.

Folksonomies: vision meaning perspective

Taxonomies:
/hobbies and interests/magic and illusion (0.551806)
/family and parenting/children (0.483941)
/art and entertainment/books and literature (0.162756)

Keywords:
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Concepts:
Season (0.959066): dbpedia | freebase
Life (0.643646): dbpedia | freebase
Universe (0.543120): dbpedia | freebase
Earth (0.527094): dbpedia | freebase
Autumn (0.514155): dbpedia | freebase
Plato (0.505426): dbpedia | freebase | opencyc | yago
Winter (0.483247): dbpedia | freebase
Ayumi Hamasaki (0.449271): website | dbpedia | freebase | yago | musicBrainz

 An Address to Men of Science
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book:  Carlile, Richard (1821), An Address to Men of Science, Retrieved on 2013-12-30
  • Source Material [books.google.com]
  • Folksonomies: science