the kernel of eternity

at that instant he saw, in one blaze of light, an image of unutterable conviction, the reason why the artist works and lives and has his being — the reward he seeks — the only reward he really cares about, without which there is nothing. it is to snare the spirits of mankind in nets of magic, to make his life prevail through his creation, to wreak the vision of his life, the rude and painful substance of his own experience, into the congruence of blazing and enchanted images that are themselves the core of life, the essential pattern whence all other things proceed, the kernel of eternity.

thomas wolfe of time and the river

cato, the younger

i saw close by me a solitary old man, worthy, by
his appearance, of so much reverence that never
son owed father more.
long was his beard and mixed with white hair,
similar to the hairs of his head, which fell to his
breast in two strands.
the rays of the four holy lights so adorned his
face with brightness that i saw him as if the sun
had been before him.

dante alighieri purgatorio: canto I

i found rome of clay, and leave her to you of marble

have i played the part well? then applaud as I exit...

gaius octavius thurinus (d. ceasar augustus)

1 august 1835

what i really need is to get clear about what i must do, not what i must know, except insofar as knowledge must precede every act. what matters is to find a purpose, to see what it really is that God wills that i shall do; the crucial thing is to find a truth which is truth for me, to find the idea for which i am willing to live and die.

soren kierkegaard journals

leaving from nowhere to return to nowhere

i am a citizen of the most beautiful nation on earth. a nation whose laws are harsh yet simple, a nation that never cheats, which is immense and without borders, where life is lived in the present. in this limitless nation, this nation of wind, light, and peace, there is no other ruler besides the sea...

leaving from Plymouth to return to Plymouth feels like leaving from nowhere to return to nowhere...

therefore...

my intention is to continue the voyage, still nonstop toward the Pacific Islands where there is plenty of sun and more peace than in Europe. please do not think that i am trying to break a record. “record” is a very stupid word at sea. i am continuing non-stop because i am happy at sea, and perhaps because i want to save my soul.

bernard moitessier, legend