"We must learn to re-awaken and keep ourselves awake
Not by mechanical aids, but by the infinite expectation of the dawn
which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep.
I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to
elevate his life by a conscious endeavor.
It is something to be able to paint a particular picture or to carve a statue
and so to make a few things beautiful.
But it is far more glorious to carve and paint the atmosphere and medium
through which we look.
Which morally we can do.
To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts.
Everyman is tasked to make his life
even in its details worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour."
Thoreau