"We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to a human life . . .I learned a long time ago. . .that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives the span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning, so its quality is immeasurable though its quantity may be insignificant. Do you understand what I am saying?"

- Chiam Potok in his book The Chosen