...I leaped headlong into the Sea, and thereby have become more acquainted with the Soundings, the quicksands, and the rocks, than if I had stayed upon the green shore, and piped a silly pipe, and took tea and comfortable advice.
Letter to James Hessey, 8 October 1818, in H. E. Rollins (ed.) 'The Letters of John Keats' (1958) vol. 1, p. 374
