to cry "the all is one," and to perceive that all things are in one landscape
and form a system by their juxtaposition, is the rude beginning of wisdom
in natural philosophy. but it is easy to go farther, and to see that things
form a unity in a far deeper and more mysterious way. one of the first things, 
for instance, is that these objects that people the world all pass away, and
that the place thereof knows of them no more. yet, when they vanish,
nothingness does not succeed; other things arise in their stead. 


george santayana