Mossy stone steps leading into a forest lit by shafts of sunlight.

Original artwork, not a still

Alexander Graham Bell

Don’t keep forever on the public road. Leave the beaten track behind occasionally and dive into the woods. You will be certain to find something you have never seen before, and something worth thinking about to occupy your mind. All really big discoveries are the result of thought.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker urges leaving the familiar route now and then and wandering into the woods. New sights and useful things to think about await. Curiosity and reflection are treated as the source of major discoveries, so stepping off the beaten track becomes a way of feeding thought.

Context reviewed

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