John L. Stoddard's Lectures, Vol. 01 (of 10)

John L. Stoddard's Lectures, Vol. 01 (of 10) - Norway, Switzerland, Athens, Venice

A witty French abb was once asked why he kept up a country-seat which he never visited. "Do you not know," he answered, "that I must have some place, where, though I never go to it, I can always imagine that I might be happier than where I am?" The world is like the abb. Most of us are not living, we are anticipating life. We are always "going to our country seats." It is the land we have not visited that is to give to us our greatest happiness. If we have not yet found it in America, it is awaiting us in Europe; if not in Europe, surely in Japan. As the Germans say, "Da wo ich nicht bin, da ist das Glck." Hence travel is attractive, if only as a means of acquiring that happiness which here seems so elusive. All of us hope to some day visit Europe and the Orient, and for that reason everything pertaining to their beauty, art, and history seems alluring. But when these have been seen, the wished-for goal of the untraveled world again recedes, and the desire is just as strong to visit other and more distant lands. This love of travel is not caused by ordinary restlessness. It springs originally from the universal craving of the soul for something different from its usual environment. It also comes from a legitimate longing for that broader education which only personal study of other races, civilizations and religions can bestow. And, finally, it arises from a yearning for the joy and benefit of realizing history by visiting the ancient shrines of art, the homes or sepulchres of heroes, and the arenas of heroic deeds. When such desires 6 are once awakened, to travel is to live, to remain continually in one place is to stagnate. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 58580
Author: Stoddard, John L. (John Lawson)
Release Date: Dec 31, 2018
Format: eBook
Language: English