Posted by Sigismund on February 22, 2010, at 2:46:59
In reply to I'm not sure I am meant for this world...., posted by obsidian on February 16, 2010, at 1:08:08
Some of this is quoted in the preface or whatever the right word is of The Quiet American, which, being in Vietnam, I have read. Anyway, I thought you might find it interesting. It's from the 1850s from a really long poem, I think. It's by AH Clough
There are two different kinds, I believe, of human attraction:
One which simply disturbs, unsettles, and makes you uneasy,
And another that poises, retains, and fixes and holds you.
I have no doubt, for myself, in giving my voice for the latter.
I do not wish to be moved, but growing where I was growing,
There more truly to grow, to live where as yet I had languished.
I do not like being moved: for the will is excited; and action
Is a most dangerous thing; I tremble for something factitious,
Some malpractice of heart and illegitimate process;
We are so prone to these things, with our terrible notions of duty.
poster:Sigismund
thread:937138
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20100128/msgs/937658.html