"The world is not imperfect or slowly evolving along a long path to perfection. No, it is perfect at every moment; every sin already carries grace within it, all small children are potential old men, all sucklings have death within them, all dying people ... eternal life. Therefore, it seems to me that everything that exists is good -- death as well as life, sin as well as folly. Everything is necessary, everything needs only agreement, my assent, my loving understanding; then all is well with me and nothing can harm me.

" --Herman Hesse in 'Siddhartha'