Voss could always, if necessary, fail to understand. But wounds will wince, especially in the salt air. He was smiling and screwing up his eyes at the great theatre of light and water. Some pitied him. Some despised him for his funny appearance of a foreigner. None, he realized with a tremor of anger, was conscious of his strength. Mediocre, animal men never do guess at the power of rock or fire, until the last moment before those elements reduce them to - nothing. This, the palest, the most transparent of words, yet comes closest to being complete. Patrick White
About This Quote

Ralph Waldo Emerson said that “We should not pity the man who feels the world too much, for he will surely lose it." He also said that, "Consciousness is a fine condition; but not to be maintained at all hazards. The mind must be kept in a state of tension and excitement if it is to be worth anything; and the only way to do this is to hold it in check and subject it to control."

Source: Voss

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