The eye that blinks

I just finished reading The Chosen by Chaim Potok, which gives an insight into the Hasidic Jewish community through a friendship between two boys in 19040s Brooklyn. One is a secular Jew with an intellectual Zionist father; the other is the brilliant son and rightful heir to a Hasidic rebbe. The novel, which was written in 1967, is perceptive, touching, exquisite and unusual, according to the Boston Sunday Herald. 

There are many parts in the book that are worthy of mention. I felt compelled to post this excerpt as a reminder of the important things in life.

"Human beings do not live forever, Reuven. We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked what value there is to a human life. There is so much pain in the world. What does it mean to have to suffer so much if our lives are nothing more than the blink of an eye?" He paused again, his eyes misty now, then went on. "I learned a long time ago, Reuven, that a blink of an eye is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives that span, he is something. he can fill that tiny span with meaning, so its quality is immeasurable though its quantity may be insignificant. Do you understand what I am saying? A man must fill his life with meaning, meaning is not automatically given to life. It is hard work to fill one's life with meaning. That I do not think you understand yet. A life filled with meaning is worthy of rest. I want to be worthy of rest when I am no longer here. Do you understand what I am saying?"