"Throughout life one asks the same question in many forms.
This question lies at the heart of a search for oneself, a search that begins with the first glimmer of consciousness and continues to the very last breath.
For every human being it varies, and at every stage of his life.
Often the search is conducted without any intellectual comprehension of what one is about.
Sometimes the subtlest philosophical nuances of thought and speculation may be brought into play, and at others the question does not even rise to consciousness.
But one never really extricates oneself from the context of the issue, Who am I?
And from its corollaries:
Where do I come from?
Where am I going?
What for?
Why?"
--Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From "The Search for Oneself," in The Thirteen Petalled Rose by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
