If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise
Source: The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790-1793)
Topic
From Channing's insistence that a man must better himself before he can better his condition to James's instruction to change your life immediately and flamboyantly, the collection is impatient with cautious, incremental improvement. Thoreau: things do not change, we change. Kierkegaard: life can only be understood backwards but must be lived forwards. Butler on learning the violin in public as the only honest method. Carnegie on having done everything because he wanted something — desire as the engine of development rather than a distraction from it. These quotes suggest that self-development is not a program but an orientation, and that the only required condition is the willingness to move before you know where you will arrive.
If the fool would persist in his folly he would become wise
I count life just a stuff to try the soul's strength on
When the fight begins within himself, a man's worth something
A man should have the fine point of his soul taken off to become fit for this world