What A piece of Work is Man

What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me,
what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not
me:

This is by far my favorite piece of text William Shakespeare has ever written. Hamlet is over 4 hours long, but here in a rare act of simplicity, Shakespeare muses on a topic that we as humans have often grappled with. The divinity of humanity and yet our animistic nature. The ultimate duality that we all share, and the incompleteness we often feel. I have grappled with this question often, and come to varying conclusions. When I was a kid, man was meant to be God. As a teenager man was an animal nothing more. As a young adult I find man to be devil. As I grow my perception of man will change as well. Anyway, this was a brief look into what I am often contemplating, as I stare pensively out in space.