" Why, if our time on earth could be
spent as laurel, its green darker than
all others, its leaves edged with
little waves (like the smile of a wind) —: then why do we
have to be human—and avoiding destiny,
long for destiny? . . .

Oh not because there is happiness,
that rash profit taken just prior to impending loss,
Not out of curiosity, or to give the heart practice,
reasons that would hold for the laurel too . . .

But because being here is so much, and because everything
in this fleeting world seems to need us, and
strangely speaks to us. "

― Rainer Maria Rilke , Duino Elegies