it is the unspeakable misery of a life so false as his, that it steals the pith and substance out of whatever realities there are around us, and which were meant by heaven to be the spirit's joy and nutriment. to the untrue man, the whole universe is false, -it is impalpable, -it shrinks to nothing within his grasp. and he himself, in so far as he shows himself in a false light, becomes a shadow, or, indeed, ceases to exist. the only truth that continued to give him a real existence on this earth was the anguish in his inmost soul, and the undissembled expression of it in his aspect. had he once found the power to smile, and wear a face of gayety, there would have been no such man!
-nathaniel hawthorne the scarlet letter
-nathaniel hawthorne the scarlet letter
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