Knowledge is basic. It is knowledge which enables us to understand the world and ourselves, and to exercise some control or guidance. It sets us in a fruitful and significant relation with the enduring processes of the universe. And, by revealing the possibilities of fulfillment that are still open, it provides an overriding incentive.

In: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man, Introduction (p. 28), Harper & Row, Publishers. 1965