Not one step has man taken toward the solution of the problem of his destiny. In one condemnation of folly stand the whole universe of men.
 Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friendship (1841). copy citation

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Author Ralph Waldo Emerson
Source Friendship
Topic condemnation destiny
Date 1841
Language English
Reference in "Essays: First Series"
Note
Weblink https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Essays:_First_Series/Friendship

Context

“I do not wish to treat friendships daintily, but with roughest courage. When they are real, they are not glass threads or frostwork, but the solidest thing we know. For now, after so many ages of experience, what do we know of nature, or of ourselves? Not one step has man taken toward the solution of the problem of his destiny. In one condemnation of folly stand the whole universe of men. But the sweet sincerity of joy and peace, which I draw from this alliance with my brother's soul, is the nut itself, whereof all nature and all thought is but the husk and shell. Happy is the house that shelters a friend!” source