I have been reading "Human Destiny" by Lecomte du Nouy over quite a long period. It hasn't been an easy book. The title first came to my attention when it struck me both aesthetically and in its potential for meaning when seeing it in my photograph 'Human Destiny in Truth or Consequences' from November 2008.

At face value I adore the bold, tall capitalised font giving shape to such a powerful phrase. In the photograph all arrows pictured point to this: from the side, from above and from below. The author's name also drew my attention. Of my own photographs it is quite possibly my favourite and most complete to date. Perhaps two years back, in 2015, I purchased the book. The concluding chapter holds some marvelous thoughts. This is true of the book as a whole but the author seems to become much more fluid and warm in his expressed thoughts in the final chapter. I have had difficult thoughts and a troubled being of late and this last chapter has helped me. Throughout the book it reminded me of 'The Phenomenon of Man' by Pierre Teillhard de Chardin - not least perhaps due to the similarity of their names. Both books are by scientists presenting theories of evolution in relation to the development of the moral, spiritual and religious impulses of mankind. Both are dear to me.

The quote pictured above clarified for me some thoughts expressed in the previous page:

We cannot be but struck by the disproportion between the duration of a man's life and the duration of his influence on future generations. Every one of us leaves a trail either modest or brilliant, and this conviction should make itself felt in all the acts of our lives... That which was best in him, which he gave sometimes unconsciously to his circle of friends and relations, will never die completely.