II. Introductory Explanations Concerning the Nature of Man

If you have before you the mineral and its form, you will find that it remains the same; if it only depends upon itself. But this is not the case in a living being, in a plant, an animal, or a human being. As soon as a substance takes on so complicated a form that it can no longer be held together through its own forces, in other words, that it would decay if left to itself, there is something in this substance which prevents it from decaying, and in that case we have before us what we call a LIVING BEING.