O world, thou choosest not the better part!
It is not wisdom to be only wise,
And on the inward vision closes the eyes;
But it is wisdom to believe the heart.
Columbus found a world, and had no chart
Save one that faith deciphered in the skies;
To trust the soul's invincible surmise
Was all his science and his only art.
Our knowledge is a torch of smoky pine
That lights the pathway but one step
That lights the pathway but one step ahead
Across a void of mystery and dread.
Bid, then, the tender light of faith to shine
By which alone the mortal heart is led
Unto the thinking of the thought divine.

~ George Santayana (1863 - 1952) b. in Spain, educated in U.S. Essayist, novelist, poet.