He Each Moment Abides There Where He Is

from the journals of
Henry David Thoreau:

September 17, 1839/

Nature never makes haste. Her systems revolve at an even pace. The bud swells imperceptibly, without hurry or confusion, as though the short spring days were an eternity. All her operations seem separately for the time, the single object for which all things tarry. Why, then, should man hasten as if anything less than eternity were alloted for the least deed? Let him consume never so many eons, so that he go about the meanest task well, though it be but the paring of his nails. If the setting sun seems to hurry him to improve the day while it lasts, the chant of the crickets fails not to reassure him, even-measured as of old, teaching him to take his own time henceforth forever. The wise man is restful, never restless or impatient. He each moment abides there where he is, as some walkers actually rest the whole body at each step, while others never relax the muscles of the leg until the accumulated fatigue obliges them to stop short.

"Rascal's Roost" in Haunted Canyon (top)
Hance Rapids (middle)
Escalante Route rest area (below)