It is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.
It is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.
Presumtious man! the reason wouldst thou find,
Why formed so weak, so little and so blind?
First if thou canst, the harder the reason guess,
Why formed no weaker, blinder and no less!
-Alexander Pope, An Essay On Man
“Most men will not swim before they are able to.” Is that not witty? Naturally, they won’t swim! They are born for the solid earth, not for the water. And naturally they wont think. They are made for life, not for thought. Yes, and he who thinks, what’s more, he who makes thought his business, he may go far in it, but he has bartered the solid earth for the water all the same, and one day he will drown.”
— Hermann Hesse (Steppenwolf)