axially “Shams and reality are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous. If men would steadily observe realities only, and not allow themselves to be deluded, life, to compare it with such things as we know, would be like a fairy tale and the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments. If we respected only what is inevitable and has a right to be, music and poetry would resound along the streets. When we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence, that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of the reality. This is always exhilarating and sublime. By closing the eyes and slumbering, and consenting to be deceived by shows, men establish and confirm their daily life of routine and habit everywhere, which still is built on purely illusory foundations.” – Thoreau, Walden.
Pros ton theon.
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This entry (permalink) was posted on Monday, September 10, 2012, at 12:03 pm by jbkuhner. Filed in Comments on Life, Felicitous Phrasing and tagged Thoreau, Walden.
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