Ice-skating on a frozen lake at night is the closest we come to flight without ever actually leaving the Earth. The experience is exhilarating because it is so dangerous, liberating because it is so foolish. At any moment a crack could open up, the ice could thin to insignificance, and we wouldn’t even notice. Flying blind, we don’t know what’s going on below. Of course, sometimes there is no choice. Upon closer examination, life’s little stepping stones often turn out to be frozen lakes at night. In which case, 19th-century philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson’s advice applies: “In skating over thin ice our safety is in our speed.” So hurry up. Each stroke slices off another layer of ice, leaving us with that much less ground beneath our feet, speeding between two great darks.
James Geary is the author of The World in a Phrase and Geary’s Guide to the World’s Great Aphorists. jamesgeary.com
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