Leaving behind earthly feelings

It was there that in the purity of the air around me I truly began to unravel the real reason for the change in my mood, and the return to that inner peace which I had lost for such a long time. Indeed, it is a general impression…that on high mountains, where the air is pure and fine, one feels more ease in breathing, more lightness in the body, more serenity in the mind; pleasures are less ardent there, passions more moderate.

Meditations take on an indefinable character of greatness and sublimity, proportionate to the objects which strike us, and a certain tranquil, exquisite pleasure…

It seems that in rising above the dwelling place of men, one leaves behind all base, earthly feelings, and that as one approaches the ethereal regions, the soul takes on something of their unchanging purity.

by Jean-Jacques Rousseau via Ali Thomson