Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 94, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 July 1903 — Afire with Thought. [ARTICLE]

Afire with Thought.

A recent book, “Out of the Past,” states that a lecture by Emerson marked the awakening of President Garfield’s intellectual life. He was a young man, and Emerson’s personality no less than his subtle thought affected Garfield so powerfully that when he came out of the room in which the lecture was delivered the whole mountain that rose over the town seemed to be on fire. Yet on being questioned as to what it was'all about, Garfield, In telling the story years after, said that he was unable to recall more than a single sentence: “Mankind is as indolent as it dares to be.” He was not certain that he recalled that correctly.