Like all concrete beings, man occupies a place in physical space. However, unlike other beings, his authentic existence goes on in an inner space. Geography determines his physical position; his thoughts are his personal position. The thought we think is where we are, partly or entirely. The thought we think is the space of the inner life, comprehending it. A person is in his thoughts, particularly in the ways in which he knows or understands his own self. His thoughts are his situation. His nature include what he thinks he is.
Unlike a theory of things which seeks merely to know its subject, a theory of man shapes and affects its subject. Statements about man magnetize the inner space of man. We not only describe the "nature" of man, we fashion it. We become what we think of ourselves.
Abraham Joshua Heschel, "Who is Man?", p. 7
