On Seeking Truth and the Life of the Mind

“The mind, in discovering truth, acts in the same manner as it acts through the eye in discovering objects; when once any object has been seen, it is impossible to put the mind back to the same condition it was in before it saw it.”
-Thomas Paine, Rights of Man

Once we venture out onto the precipice of truth, there is no going back, for it is the journey that encompasses a lifetime.