“One hope no sooner dies in us but another rises up in its stead. We are apt to fancy that we shall be happy and satisfied if we possess ourselves of such and such particular enjoyments; but either by reason of their emptiness, or the natural inquietude of the mind, we have no sooner gained one point, but we extend our hopes to another. We still find new inviting scenes and landscapes lying behind those which at a distance terminated our view.” IfsMindStillsReasonLyingDiesHopeNaturalViewsBehindsParticularSceneDistanceSatisfiedLandscapeEnjoymentFancyEmptinessInviting Book:The Works: In Six Volumes Source: The Works: In Six Volumes
“Once a month I wake in the night, slippery with terror. I'm afraid, not because there's someone in the room, in the dark, in the bed, but because there isn't. I'm afraid of the emptiness, which lies beside me like a corpse.” LyingNightDarkRoomsMonthsBedTerrorEmptinessCorpsesSlippery Book:Wilderness Tips Source: Wilderness Tips
“if a man be discreet enough to take to hard drinking in his youth, before his general emptiness is ascertained, his friends invariably credit him with a host of shining qualities which, we are given to understand, lie balked and frustrated by his one unfortunate weakness.” IfsMenHardEnoughLyingGivenQualityYouthWeaknessShiningDrinkingCreditEmptinessHostFrustratedUnfortunateAlcoholismDiscreet Book:Points of View Source: Points of View
“But for the present I would lie there and know I didn't have to get up, and feel the holy emptiness and blessed fatigue of a saint after the dark night of the soul. For God and Nothing have a lot in common. You look either one of Them straight in the eye for a second and the immediate effect on the human constitution is the same.” KnowsFeelsHumansLooksSoulEyeLyingNightDarkCommonEffectsHolyConstitutionBlessedSaintGet UpEmptinessFatigueDark NightDark Night Of The Soul Book:All the King's Men Source: All the King's Men