Scott Morris, writing for the Wall Street Journal, has a profile of historian Forrest McDonald, coupled with a review of his latest book, Recovering the Past. The last line, quoted from the book, is striking in that it puts much in perspective:

After rehearsing the long evolutionary odds against human beings coming into existence, Mr. McDonald, age 77, concludes: "Whether I am hungry or well fed, whether I am sick or healthy, or cold or comfortable, or honored and respected or despised and kicked and beaten, even that I shall soon be leaving, all is trivial compared to the fact that I got here. I am a miracle, and so, dear reader, are you."