Charles E. Burchfield, Journals March 28, 1920

March 28, 1920

Peace of mind is only achieved by the sacrifice of what is noblest in life – The contact with materialistic people around us only becomes less harsh when we dull our repugnance to ugliness & evil.

The more susceptible we become to natures beauty, the more powerful such happiness seems.

After an evening of grotesque mental aberration and a night of restlessness, I woke in the morning despising all mankind; fears that I was slipping again into misanthropy assailed me, but at Teegarten I found peace,

The simple unsophisticated wildness of the people there; their good natured kindness enlivened me, and made me see that I was closer to humanity than I thought – what I had despised in humanity was a system of thought, not they themselves –

Charles E. Burchfield, March 20, 1920