You wanted greater thingsBut love forces all of us downAnd sorrow bows us still harder.They bend us back where we began.Are there not in the hallowed nightAlso right things?Things that are straight and true?So I learned.For never, as mortal teachers do,Have you, my deities,Upholders of all thingsLed me with cautionOn level pathways.The gods say to humans,"Taste everythingAnd learn by that nourishmentTo give thanks for all thingsAnd know what it is to be free to quitAnd go where you like.
-Friedrich Hölderlin
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