Every new born being indeed comes fresh and blithe into the new existence, and enjoys it as a free gift: but there is, and can be, nothing freely given. It's fresh existence is paid for by the old age and death of a worn out existence which has perished, but which contained the indestructible seed out of which the new existence has arisen: they are one being.
Every new born being indeed ...
Quotes from the same author
Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.
In action a great heart is the chief qualification. In work, a great head.
If children were brought into the world by an act of pure reason alone, would the human race continue to exist? Would not a man rather have so much sympathy with the coming generation as to spare it the burden of existence, or at any rate not take it upon himself to impose that burden upon it in cold blood?
A man of business will often deceive you without the slightest scruple, but he will absolutely refuse to commit a theft.
The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary on it.