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"Hitch your wagon to a star" was the advice of that smiling optimist, Emerson. It probably looked well on paper, and even better in print, but some of us grow impatient, and get a little tired of sighing for distant constellations. Ideals have an exasperating way of eluding us. We begin to pursue them with fiery enthusiasm; we end with empty hands and calloused feet. We rise rapidly to lofty purposes, but before long the parachute of inspiration makes a sad descent. The student must strive to keep his judgement unaffected by hectic enthusiasms, biased propaganda, axe-grinding advertisements.

-- Notebooks Category 2: Overview of Practices Involved > Chapter 3 : Uncertainties of Progress > # 182