“I have this moment when, almost in despair, I throw myself at the paper, wanting to cast handfuls of my soul upon people and transform them into myself.”

Original: a mam tę chwilę, że niby z jakąś rozpaczą rzucam się do papieru, chcąc garściami duszę moją rzucać na ludzi, przemieniać ich w siebie — Writing becomes an almost physical act of pouring the self into other people. · Letter to his mother, 28 November 1843 (Polish)

• Creation
• Expression
• Writing

“It is true what people in the East say: whoever has once tasted that air returns there if he can, despite all the hardships of continual travel.”

Original: Prawda to, co powiadają ludzie wschodni, że kto raz tamtego powietrza zakosztował, to jeżeli może, nazad tam znów powraca, pomimo wszystkich niewygód ciągłej podróży. — Travel leaves an enduring longing for places that have profoundly altered one's sense of life. · Letter to his mother, 24 November 1837 (Polish)

• Longing
• Memory
• Travel

“I want to transform reason into wisdom, awaken a person, and give him an impulse towards the great purposes of life.”

Original: z chęcią, aby mu serce zapełnić, rozum zamienić w mądrość, wskrzesić go niby i dać mu pęd ku wielkim celom żywota — He distinguishes mere intellectual understanding from wisdom put into purposeful action. · Letter to his mother, 15 October 1845 (Polish)

• Growth
• Purpose
• Wisdom