This eternal principle separates part of itself from its own being--and this is the soul of mankind.

Every soul perceives clearly that it is a part of an eternal whole; it feels itself unhappy and uneasy in its fragmentary existence, and yearns to go back again to the whole from whence it came.

Individual life means removal from that all-embracing whole; individual death is the complete union of finite parts with the infinite whole.

Thus, although life is a necessity, it is a continual pain, and ceaseless yearning; death is the freedom from pain and the fulfillment of that yearning.

The only aim of life is death at the end of it, and death is the goal toward which every activity of the living organism eagerly strives." Paul looked at Wilhelm and Schrotter, but as they were silent he said nothing.