“ I think a man must be of a very quiet and happy nature, who can long endure the country; and, moreover, very well contented with his own insignificant person, very self-complacent, to be continually occupied with himself and his own thoughts. To say the least, a city life makes one more tolerant and liberal in his judgment of others. One is not eternally wrapped up in self-contemplation ”
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Hyperion (1839). copy citation
| Author | Henry Wadsworth Longfellow |
|---|---|
| Source | Hyperion |
| Topic | judgment contemplation |
| Date | 1839 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5436/5436-h/5436-h.htm |
Context
“interrupted the Baron; "and presently you will love the city less and the country more. Say at once, that you have an undefined longing for both; and prefer town or country, according to the mood you are in. I think a man must be of a very quiet and happy nature, who can long endure the country; and, moreover, very well contented with his own insignificant person, very self-complacent, to be continually occupied with himself and his own thoughts. To say the least, a city life makes one more tolerant and liberal in his judgment of others. One is not eternally wrapped up in self-contemplation; which, after all, is only a more holy kind of vanity."
In conversation like this, the hours glided away; till at length, from the Giant's Tower, the Castleclock struck twelve, with a sound that seemed to come from the Middle Ages.”
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