Project Gutenberg 2022-10-13 Public domain in the USA. 131 Gilbert, Joseph Stevens, Lawrence Sterne 1886 1960 Lawrence Lawrence, Stephen Stevens, L. Sterne Stevens, Sterne Stevens, Lawrence The eternal quest $aUnited States :$bFictioneers, Inc.,$c1942. Produced from Astonishing Stories, October 1942 Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Eternal Quest" by Joseph Gilbert is a science fiction novelette written in the early 1940s. The story explores the themes of hope and the search for meaning in a future where humanity has become spiritually and creatively stagnant due to the overwhelming dominance of machines. The narrative intertwines elements of space exploration with psychological and philosophical inquiries about the human condition, highlighting the struggle to reclaim purpose in a technologically advanced yet emotionally barren society. In this tale, a diminutive yet charismatic figure emerges to inspire a world depleted of hope, claiming to have discovered a new civilization that could revitalize humanity. The protagonist, Robert Lawrence, embarks on a journey to Mars that deepens his understanding of the emptiness bred by technology. He encounters a dying being who, in a tragic twist, reveals that his own quest for escape led to despair, mirroring the futility faced by mankind. In the end, Lawrence learns of the quiet, sorrowful existence shared by those who seek fulfillment and the profound sadness of unrealized dreams, culminating in a poignant commentary on the eternal quest for meaning amidst an indifferent universe. (This is an automatically generated summary.) 20220604082548gilbert 1942 US Reading ease score: 70.6 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Psychological fiction Human-alien encounters -- Fiction Interstellar travel -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Novels 63579 2025-07-27T10:30:25.467606 text/html 39771 2024-10-19T01:24:52 text/html 323771 2025-07-27T10:30:28.835569 application/epub+zip 322575 2025-07-27T10:30:26.883608 application/epub+zip 227730 2025-07-27T10:30:25.972593 application/epub+zip 1113759 2025-07-27T10:30:30.362577 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1106469 2025-07-27T10:30:28.296571 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 57080 2025-07-27T10:30:25.349594 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 37194 2024-10-19T01:24:52 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17068 2025-07-27T10:30:30.554546 application/rdf+xml 29457 2025-07-27T10:30:26.398564 image/jpeg 4958 2025-07-27T10:30:26.188570 image/jpeg 2072503 2025-07-27T10:30:25.495603 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia