Always Feeling

In "Expostulation and Reply" the narrator, William, speaks of how we not only use books and the teachings of others to learn but we also learn for ourselves by observance of nature and the world around us. He declares that the best way to learn and find the truth behind life is to observe and make our own findings of it, not by simply following what someone else teaches you life is. He speaks of "wise passiveness" as a form of observation. Thus to say that our minds are naturally wise enough to always be observing everything that in nature surrounds us. That way we are constantly learning, not just when our heads are stuck in books. Our minds are always at work so that actually trying to learn or look for some kind of inspiration or thought is more work than necessary because the mind is already looking for it on its own, not just when it is willed to. Therefore the narrator decides not to study in his books from another's point of view but from his own; learn from the source which the teacher learned from. That way his mind does not have to do as much work as everyone around him thinks theirs must.