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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker feels the world is open except for Poland, which feels suffocating and hard to breathe.
In plain terms
Poland feels like a closed, oppressive place amidst an open world.
What can you take from it?
Recognize how attachment to place can feel restrictive.

Where it applies

  • immigration
  • cultural exile
  • personal growth

Putting it to work

  • explore new environments
  • reflect on personal boundaries

Questions to consider

  • Why does home sometimes feel oppressive?
  • How can one reconcile belonging with freedom?

Another view

The feeling may be subjective and not universal.

More from Ignacy Domeyko

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  2. 'It is hard to spend one's fifteenth Easter away from his native country. If throughout the year of an exile's life one constantly feeds on longing as if it we…

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  3. 'I can still feel within me the strength and readiness for hardship and suffering, yet I would like to live long enough to see the day when I might freely work…

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