The world - this shadow of the soul, or other me - lies wide around. Its attractions are the keys which unlock my thoughts and make me acquainted with myself. I run eagerly into this resounding tumult... So much only of life as I know by experience... The true scholar grudges every opportunity of action past by, as a loss of power.
"The prose works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. In two volumes" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Library, 2005.
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