The action of the Imagination may be best illustrated by example.
Previous to the days of Columbus, many sea-captains believed that there
was a Western Continent; but their belief was a cold faith, existing
only in Thought. When the ardent mind of Columbus received the
same belief, Imagination speedily formed it into a reality of such
distinctness that faith changed to hope, and then Affection brooded upon
it until his whole being was absorbed by the determination that he would
be the discoverer of this unknown world. The image of this land was
a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of flame by night, leading him
onward in spite of every discouragement and disappointment. Others might
lose their courage, or die of weariness by the way; but his was that
deathless enthusiasm that knows neither despair nor doubt. To this
intense Imagination the world owes a new continent, and it is to
such Imaginations that it owes almost, if not quite, all the great
discoveries and inventions that have ever been made. There are those who
love to believe that such things are in the main the result of accident;
but it is only to the thoughtful and the imaginative that accident
speaks. To the dull and the indifferent it is utterly dumb.
What is life but one long chain of accidents, if by accident we
understand all that falls out without our own intention or volition. We
cannot control these accidents.
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