All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. One thing above all gives charm to men's thoughts, and this is unrest. A mind that is not uneasy irritates and bores me. Suffering! We owe to it all that is good in us, all that gives value to life; we owe to it pity, we owe to it courage, we owe to it all the virtues. The average man does not know what to do with this life, yet wants another one which will last forever. The poor have to labour in the face of the majestic equality of the law, which forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread. You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; in just the same way, you learn to love by loving. To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe. I prefer the errors of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom. It is the certainty that they possess the truth that makes men cruel.
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