“Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee.”
The Book of Genesis, c. 600 BC · the call of Abram, at seventy-five
Chapter 6
On Leaving Home
“While his parents are alive, the son may not go abroad to a distance. If he does go abroad, he must have a fixed place to which he goes.”
Confucius, c. 479 BC · Chinese teacher of the Spring and Autumn period
“Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people.”
Ruth the Moabite, c. 550 BC · leaving her own country to follow Naomi
“As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.”
Solomon, c. 700 BC · traditional author of the book of Proverbs
“You need a change of soul rather than a change of climate.”
Seneca, c. 63 AD · Roman Stoic, on travel as a cure for discontent
“The reason which set you wandering is ever at your heels.”
Seneca, c. 63 AD · Roman Stoic, quoting the counsel given to a restless traveller
“Travelling is a fool's paradise.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841 · American essayist
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.”
Mark Twain, 1869 · Samuel Clemens, on returning from his first long voyage
Of the five regrets voiced most often at the end of a life, one was simply this: they wished they had stayed in touch with their friends.
Bronnie Ware, 2011 · Australian palliative care nurse, from years at bedsides
People with strong social ties turned out to have lower rates of diabetes, arthritis and cognitive decline. Loneliness wore the body down as surely as any illness.
Harvard Study of Adult Development, 2017 · the longest running study of one group of lives, begun 1938
“That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great.”
Willa Cather, 1918 · American novelist, spoken by a boy newly arrived on the prairie
Free to read, always. Liking a verse or leaving a comment happens in the app, so the conversation has a name attached to it.