Most of the world would be surprised to know how few of our thoughts are really original with ourselves. What we write and say is, for the most part, a kind of mosaic interweaving of ideas and recollections gathered together out of other people’s talk or books. The combination and rearrangement of them is about all we can call our own. When a man does really evolve an original thought out of his own mind, it is the exception, rather than the rule. It is usually the fruit, either of patient study, or of fresh and vivid experience.
American Rococo Revival mirror
Mid-19th century
This American Rococo Revival carved gesso and gilt framed mirror rises 7.5 feet high and just over 5 feet wide. At the top rests a human head looking down. Seward owned two of these mirrors and both were used in his Washington home from 1855-1860. Both are on display in the Seward House Museum.
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