In contrast to those aspects of life which are related only peripherally - by mere fate - the adventure is defined by its capacity, in spite of its being isolated and accidental, to have necessity and meaning. Something becomes an adventure only by virtue of two conditions: that it itself is a specific organization of some significant meaning with a beginning and an end; and that, despite its accidental nature, its extraterritoriality with respect to the continuity of life, it nevertheless connects with the character and identity of the bearer of that life - that it does so in the widest sense, transcending, by a mysterious necessity, life’s more narrowly rational aspects.

- Excerpt from "Das Abenteuer," Phiosophische Kultur. Gesammelte Essays ([1911] 2nd ed.; Leipzig: Alfred Kroner, 1919)

Translated by David Kettler