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  ...are for ever sucking the same black weeds, at the same empty tables, in front of the same cafes--the Piazza, as I say, has resolved itself into a magnificent tread-mill. This is the state of mind of those shallow inquirers who find Venice all very well for a week; and if in such a state of mind you take your departure you act with fatal rashness. The loss is your own, moreover; it is not--with all deference to your personal attractions--that of your companions who remain behind; for Though there are some disagreeable things in Venice there is nothing so disagreeable as the visitors.   The conditions are peculiar, but your intolerance of them evaporates before it has had time to become a prejudice. When you have called for the bill to go, pay it and remain, and you will find on the morrow that you are deeply attached to Venice. It is by living there from day to day that you feel the fulness of her charm; that you invite her exquisite influence to sink into your spirit. The creature varies like a nervous woman, whom you know only when you know all the aspects of her...   James, Henry

Excerpt from Italian Hours · This quote is about travel · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation.

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