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Wilderness has a social benefit, believed landscape painter Thomas Cole:
[The person who gazes on wilderness] feels a calm religious tone steal through his mind, and when he has turned to mingle with his fellow men, the chords which have been struck in that sweet communion cease not to vibrate. (Quoted from “Essay on American Scenery,” by Thomas Cole. 1835. p. 3.)
For a brief biography of Thomas Cole, click here.
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Practically all of the quotations in this blog's posts are collected in "The Life of the Creative Spirit."
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I like this quote by Thomas Cole. All the more so because I visit his paintings at the National Art Gallery each time I’m in Washington, D.C.
I know what he means by the chords of sweet communion when I'm in the wilderness. It is all lost looking at ugly billboards along the highway on the way home.
Posted by: Michael Jablonski | January 23, 2008 at 12:40 PM