The Opposite of Work
The true opposite of work and occupation, which botanizing still means, Rousseau experiences only when on a nice day he rows deep onto the quiet lake. “There I stretched myself out in the boat,” we read in the island chapter, “looked up at the sky, let myself go and, carried by the water, slowly drift for several hours”.
W.G. Sebald, J’aurais voulu que ce lac eût été l’Océan – Anläßlich eines Besuchs auf der St. Petersinsel.