the Thoreau Log.
13 February 1840. Concord, Mass.

Thoreau writes in his journal:

  Duty belongs to the understanding, but genius is not dutiful, the highest talent is dutiful. Goodness results from the wisest use of talent. The perfect man has both genius and talent.

  The one is his head, the other his foot; by one he is, by the other he lives.

  The unconsciousness of man is the consciousness of God, the end of the world.

  The very thrills of genius are disorganizing. The body is never quite acclimated to its atmosphere, but how often succumbs and goes into a decline!

(Journal, 1:119)

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