out there orbiting around

But man is a creature both frivolous and myopic and, perhaps like a chess player, he likes only the actual process of achieving and not the goal itself. But who knows (there’s no guarantee), it may be that the entire earthly goal which humanity is striving towards consists solely in maintaining without a break the process of achievement - in other words, in life itself and not, properly speaking, in the goal which, of course, must be nothing but twice two is four, that is, a formula; and twice two is four is no longer life, gentlemen, but the beginning of death. At least, man has always somehow been afraid of this twice two is four, and I’m afraid of it now. But man does nothing but try to find this twice two is four. He crosses oceans, sacrifices his life in that search; but to find it, to really track it down, he is, honest to God, somehow afraid. For he feels that as soon as he does find it, he will have nothing left to search for.