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... for
it is impossible for man, and difficult even for nature
herself, to surpass the riches of my imagination ...
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Walking
animates and enlivens my spirits; I can hardly think when in a state
of inactivity; my body must be exercised to make my judgment active.
The view of a fine country, a succession
of agreeable prospects, a free air, a good appetite, and the health
I gain by walking; the freedom of inns, and the distance from everything
that can make me recollect the dependence of my situation, conspire
to free my soul, and give boldness to my thoughts, throwing me, in a
manner, into the immensity of beings, where I combine, choose, and appropriate
them to my fancy, without constraint or fear. I dispose of all nature
as I please; my heart wandering from object to object, approximates
and unites with those that please it, is surrounded by charming images,
and becomes intoxicated with delicious sensations. If, attempting to
render these permanent, I am amused in describing to myself, what glow
of coloring, what energy of expression, do I give them!
1782: The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Translated by W. Conyngham Mallory. |