第12章永恒之脉TheThreadofPermanence
威廉·佐拉奇WilliamZorach
ItisstrahiimpressiononusinembertheseversesbyLongfellow:
“Lifeisreal!Lifeisear!
Andthegravesisnotitsgoal;
Dustthouart，todustretur，
okenofthesoul。”
Andagain:
“Livesofgreatmenallremindus
Wemakeourlivessublime，
Aing，leavebehindus
Footprintsonthesandsoftime。”
eionwasmuentalthantoday'syouthbutwhetherthisoetry，itunisimplelanguageamessage，aingimpressiononasmallboy。
WhenIwasfifteenIhadanimaginaryguardianangelatothetrytosketdays，IaskedfuidangthatsomedayIwouldbeafiandpaiifulasshereallyis。Whatthislittleybroughtmewasfaithintheworldandabeliefinmyself。
MyfaithsandbeliefshavebeenbadlystraiomicAgehascaughtusinaweboffear。Ourlivesseemsoimpermaahereissuchawasteofhumaial，ofthingsworthwhileinpeoplewhieverfindexpressiohinkit'samiraclethatanythiIbelievethatathreadofpermahrfromthebeginnihemostvaluableresiduewillsurvive。
Ibelieveeverybodyhasaosomehowspinhisowhreadofpermaheimpulseoflife。Somewouldcallitthedrivetoimmortality。Whateveritis，Ithinkitisgoodbecauseitgivespurposetoexistepurposeisnotenough。Artistsaresupposedtobenotoriouslyimpractical，butformyself，IfoundIhadtomakededplarytoythihatImustapproaotonlywithasensitivity，aperofbeauty，butwithafeelingofhumilityandreverence。
Mycreedasanartististolovelifeaheworldofpeople。Amanwhoworksandloveshisworkisoftenamandreaming，aofhisdreamswillfindformsandsymbolstoexpressthatdream。Itisawooething。Buttoday，Ithinkthereisalackofpowerofuni。Ifpeople，notjustartists，butallkindsofpeople，lyopesaheirsorrow，theirhappiheirfearsaheywoulddiscovertheyhadahthemainstreamoflifewhieversawbefore。
&imesfearandicismsogripourmindsthatweloseheart。ThenItrytorememberhowthegreatartistsoftheageshadthepowerofexpressivehepowertouoexalt，tomovetheobservertojoyortears，tostriketerroraheheartsofmen;notjusttodeerelyeain。
Ifandtheboundariesofmen'sthoughtsandbeliefs，wewilldiscoverweallhavecreativepossibilities—talentstomakeourselvesrealidentitiesasindividuals，withaholdohreadofimmortality。Ifweourselvestoit，Iamcedweshallfindthatthisisanaliveaingageofadventureaionfromwhiewbeautyandafinerworldwillemerge。
令人惊奇的是，儿时的某些东西总会给我们留下深刻的印象。我至今还记得朗费罗的几句诗：
“生活是真实的！生命是真诚的！
死亡并非它最终的目标；
你本为尘埃，必归为尘土，
这是指肉体，而非灵魂。”
还有：