free(dom

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Imagining we have free will is
exactly as if water spoke to itself:

I can make waves
(yes! in the sea during a storm),

I can rush downhill
(yes! in the river bed),

I can plunge down foaming and gushing
(yes! in the waterfall),

I can rise freely as a stream of water into the air
(yes! in the fountain),

I can, finally, boil away and disappear
(yes! at a certain temperature);

but I am doing none of these things now,
and am of my own accord remaining quiet
and clear water in the reflecting pond.


—Arthur Schopenhauer

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