Letter 64 — On the Philosopher’s Task (§4)

“I shall acknowledge to you the state of mind I am in when I read his works: I want to challenge every hazard; I want to cry: “Why keep me waiting, Fortune? Enter the lists! Behold, I am ready for you!” I assume the spirit of a man who seeks where he may make trial of himself, where he may show his worth: And fretting ’mid the unwarlike flocks he prays Some foam-flecked boar may cross his path, or else A tawny lion stalking down the hills.”