“ I find nothing so singular in life, as that everything appears to lose its substance the instant one actually grapples with it. ”
Nathaniel Hawthorne, House of the Seven Gables (1851). copy citation
| Author | Nathaniel Hawthorne |
|---|---|
| Source | House of the Seven Gables |
| Topic | instant life |
| Date | 1851 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/77/77-h/77-h.htm |
Context
“They are unavoidable at this moment, standing, as you do, on the outer verge of your long seclusion, and peopling the world with ugly shapes, which you will soon find to be as unreal as the giants and ogres of a child's story-book. I find nothing so singular in life, as that everything appears to lose its substance the instant one actually grapples with it. So it will be with what you think so terrible."
"But I am a woman!" said Hepzibah piteously. "I was going to say, a lady,—but I consider that as past."
"Well; no matter if it be past!" answered the artist, a strange gleam of half-hidden sarcasm flashing through the kindliness of his manner.”
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