"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."
"I think sometimes that it is almost a pity to enjoy Italy as much as I do, because the acuteness of my sensations makes them rather exhausting; but when I see the stupid Italians I have met here, completely insensitive to their surroundings, and ignorant of the treasures of art and history among which they have grown up, I begin to think it is better to be an American, and bring to it all a mind and eye unblunted by custom."
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Source: Edith Wharton (2016). “A Backward Glance”, p.128, Edith Wharton
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