The Thinker

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Sitting alone in a garden in Paris, surrounded by Rodin’s statues, I watch the world pass me by, as I have for hundreds of years. Just over the hedge, I can see the gold dome marking the place where Napoleon is buried. All sorts of people pass by, some marveling at my creator’s talent, others wondering why he represented the hands and feet so unnaturally large. It is easy to recognize the American tourists, in blue jeans, who gawk at nude statues, and the Britons, in slightly more formal clothes, gawking just the same. Young couples have passed me by, hand-in-hand, enjoying the weather and the garden and each other’s company. And still, here I sit, in a lonely haze, separated by my very existence from everyone passing by. Completely alone, I look down as the people live their lives. The...

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