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18   Now if a thousand perfect men were to appear, it      would not amaze me;
Now if a thousand beautiful forms of women appear'd,      it would not astonish me.
19   Now I see the secret of the making of the best per-     sons,
It is to grow in the open air, and to eat and sleep with      the earth.
20  Here is space — here a great personal deed has room;
A great deed seizes upon the hearts of the whole race      of men,
Its effusion of strength and will overwhelms law, and      mocks all authority and all argument against it.
21  Here is the test of wisdom;
Wisdom is not finally tested in schools;
Wisdom cannot be pass'd from one having it, to an-     other not having it;
Wisdom is of the Soul, is not susceptible of proof, is      its own proof,
Applies to all stages and objects and qualities, and is      content,
Is the certainty of the reality and immortality of      things, and the excellence of things;
Something there is in the float of the sight of things      that provokes it out of the Soul.
22  Now I reëxamine philosophies and religions,
They may prove well in lecture-rooms, yet not prove at      all under the spacious clouds, and along the land-     scape and flowing currents.
23  Here is realization;
Here is a man tallied — he realizes here what he has in      him;
The animals, the past, the future, light, space, majesty,      love, if they are vacant of you, you are vacant      of them.
24  Only the kernel of every object nourishes;
Where is he who tears off the husks for you and me?
Where is he that undoes stratagems and envelopes for      you and me?
25   Here is adhesiveness — it is not previously fashion'd       — it is apropos;
Do you know what it is, as you pass, to be loved by      strangers?
Do you know the talk of those turning eye-balls?