[L]ife ceases to be a fraction and becomes an integer.

Fosdick’s metaphor contrasts a “fraction”—a life divided, partial, or lived in pieces—with an “integer,” something whole and integrated. The line suggests that when a person finds a unifying center (often, in Fosdick’s preaching, a clear moral or spiritual commitment), the scattered claims of work, desire, fear, and social expectation stop pulling the self apart. Life becomes coherent: choices align with a governing purpose, and the individual experiences integrity rather than fragmentation. The image also implies maturity: moving from tentative, conditional living to a full, undivided participation in one’s vocation, faith, or ideals.