the archivist March 14, 2013

EVERY EXPLORER NAMES his island Formosa, beautiful. To him it is beautiful because, being first, he has access to it and can see it for what it is. But to no one else is it ever as beautiful–except the rare man who manages to recover it, who knows that it has to be recovered.

Walker Percy, “The Loss of the Creature.”

[hat tip: the frailest thing]