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Quote#World

Men's wishes are not always vain, nor is every life too brief to…

Quote byArthur Balfour · 1848–1930

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Theism and humanism.

English (original)

Men's wishes are not always vain, nor is every life too brief to satisfy its possessor. Only when we attempt, from the point of view permitted by physics and biology, to sum up the possibilities of collective human endeavour, do we fully realise the "vanity of vanities" proclaimed by the Preacher.

— Arthur Balfour

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