“ The world owes all its onward impulses to men ill at ease. ”
Nathaniel Hawthorne, House of the Seven Gables (1851). copy citation
| Author | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
|---|---|
| Source | House of the Seven Gables |
| Topic | impulse ease |
| Date | 1851 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/77/77-h/77-h.htm |
Context
“It is not my nature. I shall sink down and perish!"
"Ah, Phoebe!" exclaimed Holgrave, with almost a sigh, and a smile that was burdened with thought.
"It will be far otherwise than as you forebode. The world owes all its onward impulses to men ill at ease. The happy man inevitably confines himself within ancient limits. I have a presentiment that, hereafter, it will be my lot to set out trees, to make fences,—perhaps, even, in due time, to build a house for another generation,—in a word, to conform myself to laws and the peaceful practice of society.”
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