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It was the capital letter A. By an accurate measurement, each limb
proved to be precisely three inches and a quarter in length. It
had been intended, there could be no doubt, as an ornamental article
of dress; but how it was to be worn, or what rank, honor, and dignity,
in by-past times, were signified by it, was a riddle which (so evanescent
are the fashions of the world in these particulars) I saw little
hope of solving. And yet it strangely interested me.
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Hawthorne
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What a woman needs is not as a woman to act or rule, but as a nature
to grow, as an intellect to discern, as a soul to live freely and
unimpeded, to unfold such powers as were given her when we left
our common home. If fewer talents were given her, yet if allowed
the free and full employment of these, so that she may tender back
to the giver his own with usury, she will not complain; nay I dare
to say she will bless and rejoice in her earthly birthplace, her
earthly lot. Let us consider what obstructions impede this good
era, and what signs give reason to hope that it draws near.
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Fuller
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I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journeywork of the
stars,
And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the
egg of the wren...
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Whitman
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It was the whiteness of the whale that above all things appalled
me. But how can I hope to explain myself here; and yet, in some
dim, random way, explain myself I must, else all these chapters
might be naught.
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Melville
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I would fain say something, not so much concerning the Chinese and
Sandwich Islanders, as you who read these pages, who are said to
live in New England; something about your condition, especially
your outward condition or circumstances in this world, in this town,
what it is, whether it is necessary that it be as bad as it is,
whether it cannot be improved as well as not.
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Thoreau
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