You will die. You will not live forever. Nor will any man nor any thing. Nothing is immortal. But only to us is it given to know that we must die. And that is a great gift: the gift of selfhood. For we have only what we know we must lose, what we are willing to lose... That selfhood which is our torment, and our treasure, and our humanity, does not endure. It changes; it is gone, a wave on the sea. Would you have the sea grow still and the tides cease, to save one wave, to save yourself?

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About Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin was a 20th-century American author. Ursula Kroeber Le Guin was an American author. She is best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the Earthsea fantasy series. Read more on Wikipedia →

Themes

  • Death — Contemplations on mortality, loss, and the legacy we leave
  • Life — Reflections on the meaning, challenges, and beauty of life

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