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Creativity Quote by John Dyer

"On my return to Cornwall I discovered that I was living in a tropical paradise. For now I am content to explore my own home and our nearest neighbour France"

About this Quote

A “tropical paradise” in Cornwall is a deliberate wink: John Dyer is flattering home by borrowing the language of empire. In the early 18th century, “tropical” wasn’t just weather-talk; it was shorthand for the exotic, the profitable, the newly accessible world being mapped, traded, and mythologized by Britain. By applying that gloss to Cornwall, Dyer makes a sly argument that the picturesque isn’t only out there in the colonies or in the Grand Tour itinerary - it’s under your feet if you know how to look.

That matters because Dyer is an artist, trained to turn familiar terrain into spectacle. The line reads like a painter’s manifesto disguised as travel chatter: the real adventure is perception. “On my return” hints at the usual assumption that value lies elsewhere, then overturns it with an almost comic reversal. Cornwall becomes “paradise” not through factual claim but through aesthetic choice, the mental palette shifting the scene’s temperature.

The second sentence tightens the stance. “For now I am content” signals restraint - a pause in ambition that feels both practical and pointed. He’s not renouncing travel; he’s reframing it. Exploring “my own home” and “our nearest neighbour France” suggests a scaled-down Grand Tour: local study paired with a culturally prestigious but geographically modest abroad. It’s a quiet critique of status tourism, and a subtle pitch for attention as a kind of citizenship: to know a place is to dignify it.

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APA Style (7th ed.)
Dyer, John. (2026, January 17). On my return to Cornwall I discovered that I was living in a tropical paradise. For now I am content to explore my own home and our nearest neighbour France. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/on-my-return-to-cornwall-i-discovered-that-i-was-80768/

Chicago Style
Dyer, John. "On my return to Cornwall I discovered that I was living in a tropical paradise. For now I am content to explore my own home and our nearest neighbour France." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/on-my-return-to-cornwall-i-discovered-that-i-was-80768/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"On my return to Cornwall I discovered that I was living in a tropical paradise. For now I am content to explore my own home and our nearest neighbour France." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/on-my-return-to-cornwall-i-discovered-that-i-was-80768/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

John Dyer

John Dyer (August 19, 1699 - December 24, 1757) was a Artist from United Kingdom.

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