This world is all a fleeting show, For man’s illusion given; The smiles of joy, the tears of woe, Deceitful shine, deceitful flow, There’s nothing true but Heaven.

For the world was built in order And the atoms march in tune; Rhyme the pipe, and Time the warder, The sun obeys them, and the moon.

The Universe, which is the uttered Word of God, is infinite in extent. There is no empty space beyond creation on any side. The Universe, which is the Thought of God pronounced, never was not, since God never was inert; nor was, without thinking and creating. The forms of creation change, the suns and worlds

Earth took her shining station as a star, In Heaven’s dark hall, high up the crowd of worlds.

The chess-board is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us.

This world is full of beauty, as other worlds above, And if we did our duty, it might be as full of love.

A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist!” “However,” replied the universe, “That fact has not created in me A sense of obligation.”

Confusion heard his voice, and wild uproar Stood ruled, stood vast infinitude confined; Till at his second bidding darkness fled, Light shone, and order from disorder sprung.

As beauteous is the world, and many a joy Floats through its wide dominion. But, alas, When we would seize the winged good, it flies, And step by step, along the path of life, Allures our yearning spirits to the grave.

The world, in its best state, is nothing more than a larger assembly of beings, combining to counterfeit happiness which they do not feel.