“We must pass like smoke or live within the spirit's fire;
For we can no more than smoke unto the flame return”

— George William Russell

The Nuts of Knowledge (1903)
Context: We must pass like smoke or live within the spirit's fire;
For we can no more than smoke unto the flame return
If our thought has changed to dream, our will unto desire,
As smoke we vanish though the fire may burn.

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George William Russell134

Irish writer, editor, critic, poet, and artistic painter 1867–1935

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