“I wish I could make you see how much fuller the life I offer you is than anything you have a conception of. I wish I could make you see how exciting the life of the spirit is and how rich in experience. It’s illimitable. It’s such a happy life. There’s only one thing like it, when you’re up in a plane by yourself, high, high, and only infinity surrounds you. You’re intoxicated by the boundless space. You feel such a sense of exhilaration that you wouldn’t exchange it for all the power and glory in the world. I was reading Descartes the other day. The ease, the grace, the lucidity. Gosh!”
–(Larry) The Razor’s Edge. W.Somerset Maugham.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Bate.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Bate.
i love that word….illimitable. I’ve exited planes doing HALO jumps at + 30K feet and know what the writer means….once you’re in descent, it truly is just you and infinity at that height. For sure not as prolonged as a pilot’s experience would be, but close
Now I’d never heard of this Descartes guy, so I just googled him and his ‘Passions of the soul’. Massive book they got on PDF that I fully intend to read as ease, grace and lucidity sound right up my street 
Thanks, Paige.
Haha! You are so brave! If you could do that, you could do anything, my friend (anything, okay? Got your back!).
I’ll recommend a less-massive Descartes, if you want. (You jumped out of planes, I taught philosophy!)
Paige
I’ll very much like the less massive Descartes
Please. Not brave, Paige…just duty. Thanks for having my back. Means a lot to me. Hugs
This is so wonderful! A perfect read to start the day.
Thanks so much! Good morning!
When I travel on an airplane, I always request window seats. When you are up in the sky looking down, you realize how small you are.
I wanted to formally bestow my nomination to you for the Blog of the Year 2012. I enjoy reading about your travels.
Your nomination can be found here: http://wp.me/p19WAK-is.
Thank you for the nomination, Jade! I’ll have to check that out.
I always sit on the aisle so I don’t have to awaken my neighbors if I feel like pacing. They always fall asleep. I never can manage…
Marvelous! And W. Somerset Maugham is a much unappreciated and underrated writer…
I had a phase where I had to read everything he’d written. I’ve never been sorry, even on a re-read, he delights me!
Stunning images!
It’s nice to borrow from pilots!