It is easy to understand the attraction, this familiar and ancient urge to leave behind the pressures and inadequacies of too much human contact. Yet most people seem able to insulate themselves well enough without this level of physical isolation, but that can lead to problems too.
It's too romantic for me. The curmudgeon's way is better.
"Men seek out retreats for themselves, cottages in the country, lonely seashores and mountains...yet all this is the very commonest stupidity; for it is in thy power, whenever thou wilt, to retire into thyself: and nowhere is there any place whereto a man may retire quieter and more free from politics than his own soul; above all if he have within him thoughts such as he need only regard attentively to be at perfect ease: and that ease is nothing else than a well-ordered mind."
ReplyDeleteMarcus Aurelius.
Sam - if only we could vote for people with well-ordered minds.
ReplyDelete