I ran across the following Ortega y Gasset quote today. I don’t know anything about Gasset, but I liked this quote a lot.
“The most radical division that it is possible to make of humanity is that which splits it into two classes of creatures: those who make great demands on themselves, piling up difficulties and duties; and those who demand nothing special of themselves, but for whom to live is to be every moment what they already are; without imposing on themselves any effort toward perfection; mere buoys that float on the waves… As one advances in life, one realizes more and more that the majority of men–and women–are incapable of any other effort than that strictly imposed on them as a reaction to external compulsion. The few individuals we have come across who are capable of a spontaneous and joyous effort stand out isolated…These are the select men, the noble ones, the only ones who are active and not merely reactive, for whom life is a perpetual striving.”
I have to admit, it rings true to me.
Natural Causes 