Saturday, July 20, 2019

We are only that amphibious piece, between a corporeal and a spiritual essence

--- Sir Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, see Religio Medici, Hydriotaphia, and the Letter to a Friend, Gutenberg Etext #586

Context, On Humankind:

"These are certainly the magisterial and masterpieces of the Creator; the flower, or, as we may say, the best part of nothing; actually existing, what we are but in hopes, and probability. We are only that amphibious piece, between a corporeal and a spiritual essence; that middle form, that links those two together, and makes good the method of God and nature, that jumps not from extremes, but unites the incompatible distances by some middle and participating natures."