May 5, 2008

"Where does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?
It is hidden from the eyes of
every living thing, concealed
even from the birds of the air.
Destruction and Death say,
'Only a rumor of it has reached
our ears.'

God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where
it dwells, for he views the
ends of the earth and sees
everything under the heavens.
When he established the force
of the wind and measured
out the waters, when he made
a decree for the rain and a
path for the thunderstorm, then
he looked at wisdom and
appraised it; he confirmed it
and tested it.

And he said to man,
'The fear of the Lord - that
is wisdom, and to shun
evil is understanding.' "
- Job 28: 20-28 (NIV)

"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges."
- Gene Wolfe, "The Shadow of the Torturer" (p 14)