"It is written: That given any one of a thousand million possible paths, life will take them all; That worlds which will support life will give birth to it; That worlds which cannot support intelligent life will be colonized; And that where both can take place, both will take place. It is written that this is what the vast, unknowing interstellar stage is for: To be given consciousness and purpose while its gift of existence lasts. It is written: That this is a random process; That in the end all will be darkness and silence again; But that while it lasts, life spreads through it, to make it aware of its own vastness and beauty, which otherwise it can never have known. This is a gift; but the Giver is unknown. That too is written."
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Original Language: English
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Epilogue (p. 190)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Blish
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James Blish
James Benjamin Blish (May 23, 1921 – July 30, 1975) was an American author of fantasy and science fiction. Blish also wrote literary criticism of science fiction using the pen-name William Atheling Jr.
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