“2986. See that thou be alway a doing of something, and be ever ashamed to catch thyself idle : The idle man is content to anticipate Death, by being out of Motion; but high Souls, like the Heaven they come from, move continually, and are uncapable of Rest, until they rest there.”

Pearls of Wisdom

Pulp (1994)

1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Prophet
Context: To the Arab Nation it was as a birth from darkness into light; Arabia first became alive by means of it. A poor shepherd people, roaming unnoticed in its deserts since the creation of the world: a Hero-Prophet was sent down to them with a word they could believe: see, the unnoticed becomes world-notable, the small has grown world-great; within one century afterwards, Arabia is at Grenada on this hand, at Delhi on that;—glancing in valor and splendor and the light of genius, Arabia shines through long ages over a great section of the world. Belief is great, life-giving. The history of a Nation becomes fruitful, soul-elevating, great, so soon as it believes. These Arabs, the man Mahomet, and that one century,—is it not as if a spark had fallen, one spark, on a world of what seemed black unnoticeable sand; but lo, the sand proves explosive powder, blazes heaven-high from Delhi to Grenada! I said, the Great Man was always as lightning out of Heaven; the rest of men waited for him like fuel, and then they too would flame.

Ch. XII : On the Virtue of Scientific Humility http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/lorenz.htm <br class="br">On Aggression (1963)

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 515

Source: An Essay on Man

The Builders, st. 2 (1849).

Sonnet: To Aurora.

Pearls of Wisdom
Variant: God is merciful to those whom He sees struggling heart and soul for realization. But remain idle, without any struggle, and you will see that His grace will never come.