There is a root, there is a stem, there are branches, there are leaves, and there comes a flower; but in the heart of the flower there is something which tells the history of the whole plant. One might say that it is for the sake of the flower that the plant was created, but in point of fact it is the seed in the heart of the flower which continues the species of that plant. That seed is the secret of the plant, and it is its source and goal. It is that seed which was the beginning, it is from out of that seed that the root came; then the seedling emerged, and so it became a plant. After that the seed disappeared; but after the coming of the leaves and branches and the flowers it appeared again. It appeared again, not as one seed, but as many seeds, in multiplicity, and yet it was the same. And towards what goal, for what result did this happen? In order that the seed should come again as the result of the whole plant.