Holmes Quote

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., (August 29, 1809 – October 7, 1894) was a physician by profession but achieved fame as a writer; he was one of the best regarded American poets of the 19th century. Wikipedia Entry

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (check out that killer mustache!):



Here is the quote:

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions." -Oliver Wendell Holmes

Since researching Holmes I've learned that the source where I first saw the quote had modified the quote itself slightly. Holmes originally said "new idea" rather than "new experience." It's almost the same thing, but the term experience applies more directly in a traveler's mind.

I really like this quote because it is so simply true. After having a new idea or experience - or both - a person is changed. Thought and experience are such dynamic things to the human mind. There is no doubt in my mind that I will return to the US as a different version of myself. I'll be me, but with some new perspectives because I've been stretching my mind for several months. I'm sure I've noticed some ways that I've changed, and I'm sure I haven't noticed some ways that I've changed. The latter is what I'm excited to see through my family and friends when I return and visit with them after having been gone for so long.

-Amanda