Sunday, May 24, 2026

Diary of Lucy Larcom, October 11, 1861

Rain: and just one of those dreary drizzling rains which turn one in from the outer world upon one's own consciousness, a most unhealthy pasture land for thought, in certain states of mind and body. Just how far we should live in self-consciousness, and how far live an outside life, or rather, live in the life of others, is a puzzle. Without something of an inner experience, it is not easy to enter into other lives, to their advantage; some self-knowledge is necessary, to keep us from intruding upon others; but it is never good to make self the centre of thought.

SOURCE: Daniel Dulany Addison, Lucy Larcom: Life, Letters, and Diary, p. 106

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